Linolog II by Alechinsky and Dotremont

In Linolog two techniques are combined: the linocut and lithography. Alechinsky designed the central motif in the form of a linoleum cut, while Dotremont filled the lithographic border with his logograms.

Spirals of hope
Both works, Linolog I and Linolog II, feature poetic texts in the central part by painter-poet Christian Dotremont. The text in Linolog I reads: “par les fenêtres de la chambre aimantée / larmes et cibles de soleil sillonné de nuit prochaine aussi de persistance de strophes / ondes et reflets de long en hauteur envolée / vers les strates de large”.

The text in Linolog II is more narrative and seems to contain references to the Bible story in which the woman in the desert is stalked by the serpent (Book of Revelation 12:6-14): “La trois cent soixante-septième nuit, elle regarda devant elle et ses yeux étaient aussi beaux que ses yeux, elle attendait qui allait venir la voir. Quant au serpent, cette nuit-là, vous le voyez qui ne la voyait pas, qui ne voyait pas la femme nue cachée dans le désert limpide, qui la cherchait à serpenter comme un pantin monstre dans le ciel désert, et qui pourtant s’approchait d’elle par le désir terrestre, géologique, à spires d’espérer.” In translation: “On the three hundred and sixty-seventh night, she looked before her and her eyes were as beautiful as his eyes, she was waiting for who would come to see her. As for the serpent, that night, you see him who did not see her, who did not see the naked woman hidden in the limpid desert, who sought to hurl her like a monster puppet into the desert sky, and who nevertheless approached her by the terrestrial, geological desire, with spirals of hope.”

One Thousand and One Nights
The French historian of law and psychoanalyst Pierre Legendre (1930-2023), who was concerned, among other things, with ‘dogmatic anthropology’, sees Linolog II as a reference to the stories of One Thousand and One Nights. In his book ‘Le Visage de la Main’ (chapter ‘La forteresse du sujet’), Legendre depicts the work and describes it as follows: “Ce tableau, glorifiant le désir et la métaphore phallique, sur le mode d’un récit des Mille et une nuits, énonce sa propre énigme par un texte haletant” – in English: “This work, which glorifies desire and the phallic metaphor, in the style of a story from One Thousand and One Nights, formulates its own riddle through a breathtaking text,” referring to Dotremont’s contribution to the work (Legendre, 2019).

Dotremont and the logogram
Dotremont (1922-1979), who died young, worked – besides with Pierre Alechinsky – with various (Cobra) artists, including Asger Jorn, Mogens Balle and Hugo Claus. Dotremont usually took care of the poetry part in the form of highly abstracted calligraphy. While using calligraphy, he converted his poetic texts into logograms, a form of visual poetry in which form prevailed over readability. Dotremont often included a readable version of his text in small print, so that you can see how special he converted the words into images.

Information
The copy of Linolog II offered is number 298 of the 300 copies of the main edition. There were also thirty Roman-numbered artist’s proofs. The sheet is in excellent condition. The work is described in the catalogue raisonné of Pierre Alechinsky’s graphic work (Rivière, 1973) as number 511. The work is not framed; we can provide suitable framing upon request.
Look here for more work by Pierre Alechinsky.