Untitled from The Test of the Title (Le Test du titre) 1966

This untitled print from The Test of the Title series by Pierre Alechinsky presents us with an intriguing array of shapes and marks, rendered in a muted palette of red and brown ink on paper. The composition is framed by an uneven rectangle, within which semi-abstract forms float against a white ground. Alechinsky's approach here is akin to a semiotic game, challenging the viewer to extract meaning from seemingly random marks. The spattering technique brings to mind Jackson Pollock, but the controlled arrangement of figures reveals a structured approach that invites us to decode their possible significance. The artwork destabilizes the idea of a fixed meaning, suggesting a more open, fluid exchange between the work and its audience. Consider how the interplay between randomness and order, combined with the suggestive title, turns this image into a field of interpretive possibilities, questioning not only what the artwork represents but how we derive meaning from visual information.