Alechinsky zien zoals een dichter een merel ziet

Abstract

The poems written by Hugo Claus (1929-2008) to accompany the work of Cobra artists are abundantly documented and analyzed. In addition to those poems, however, Claus also wrote prose about his artist friends, which until now has remained under-researched in literary studies. ‘Dertien manieren om een fragment van Alechinsky te zien’ (‘Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Fragment of Alechinsky’) appeared as a catalog text on the occasion of Pierre Alechinsky’s exhibition at the Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, which took place from March 22 to April 29, 1963. In my contribution, I demonstrate how Claus employs intertextuality and genre blending to play an ironic game with conventional art criticism. His investigative, multiperspectival view of Alechinsky’s work offers a creative and critical response to the academic or journalistic interpretation of art.