Pierre Alechinsky is a Belgian artist known for his involvement in the avant-garde CoBrA group. Melding medieval illustrations, folk art, and comic-book layouts, many of his works, such as Central Park (1965), read as mysterious codices. “When I paint, I liberate monsters,” Alechinksy once explained. “They are the manifestations of all the doubts, searches, and groping for meaning and expression which all artists experience. One does not choose the content, one submits to it.” Born on October 19, 1927 in Brussels, Belgium, he moved to Paris after studying at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture et des Arts Décoratifs in his home city. Alongside Karel Appel and Asger Jorn, he helped...