Pierre Alechinsky (b. 1927)

'Sometimes, Aimé Maeght would invite a few bright young things to exhibit in his gallery. The shows were called Les Mains éblouies (The Dazzle Hands), a title invented by the poet Jacques Kober - there was a faculty with words in the rue de Téhéran. In company with the great sculptor Eduardo Chillida, less known then but on the brink of coming to the attention of Gaston Bachelard (this was in 1950), and with other bright young things (Arnal, Corneille, Jacques Doucet, Bernard Dufour, Jacques Lanzmann, Palazuelo, Serge Rezvani, Youngerman...), I showed the results of my first artistic experiments.'
- Pierre Alechinsky