Karel Appel

Amsterdam, 1921

Biography

Karel Appel met Corneille in the period 1940-1943 while studying art at Amsterdam’s prestigious Rijksacademie. In 1946 the two travelled to Liège, where they mounted a joint exhibition in 1947. Appel and Corneille also journeyed to Paris together. On Appel’s return he met Constant and in 1948 he, Constant and Corneille exhibited in Amsterdam.

Together with Anton Rooskens, Theo Wolvecamp and Jan Nieuwenhuys (Constant’s brother) the three went on to form the Dutch Experimental Group on 16 July 1948. On 8 November of that same year Appel helped found CoBrA, and is probably the movement’s best-known member in the Netherlands.

Above all, Karel Appel is famous for describing his work as ‘just mucking about’ – which didn’t endear him to other painters in the expressive style. He created a furore in the Dutch art world of the Forties and Fifties, his 1949 mural Questioning children for the staff restaurant in Amsterdam’s city hall occasioning quite a scandal. Indignant civil servants, rendered uncomfortable by the starving children’s beseeching eyes, insisted the work be covered up and the mural disappeared behind wallpaper for a decade.

Appel always favoured the call to direct expression in paint, rather than the Marxist analysis of Western civilisation propagated by Constant. He had little time for Constant and Dotremont’s theoretical pamphlets, devoting his CoBrA years to painting innocent, childlike creatures and fabulous beasts in bright colours, utilizing simple forms and bold lines.

After CoBrA Appel maintained an emotional approach to his subject. During the Fifties he developed a heavier painting style, with line and areas of colour melting together into evocative swathes of paint. Alongside his paintings, the versatile Appel made assemblages and sculptures, and also wrote poetry. Right up until his death in Zurich on May 3, 2006, Appel remained the hard-working, almost obsessive painter he had always been.

Works

Drawn

lithograph
1977
38 x 56 cm
Edition 75
Sold

Black Mountains

lithograph
1960
45 x 65 cm
Edition 125
Price on request

A Deux Pinceaux (avec Pierre Alechinsky)

aquatint, etching
1978
41 x 61 cm
Edition 75
Price on request

Sleepy Bird

screenprint
1979
55 x 75 cm
Edition 175
Price on request

Animaux II

screenprint
1978
55 x 75 cm
Edition 160
Price on request

Animaux I

lithograph
1978
55 x 75 cm
Edition 160
Price on request

Untitled 1958

lithograph
1958
55 x 75 cm
Edition 50
Price on request

L’enfant Hussard

bronze
1950
150 x 80 x 35 cm
Edition 6
Sold

Clouds

mixed media on panel
1984
140 x 215 cm
Price on request

La Maman aux Yeux Bleus

lithograph
1969
60 x 75 cm
Edition 120
Price on request

Kip

screenprint
1977
70 x 84 cm
Edition 140
Price on request

Untitled 1969

lithograph
1969
56 x 70 cm
Edition 75
Price on request

Hollands Landschap

screenprint
1986
52 x 62 cm
Edition 24
Price on request

Spelend in het Blauw

screenprint
1977
49 x 49 cm
Edition 300
Price on request

De Indiaan

screenprint
1977
49 x 49 cm
Edition 300
Price on request

Hoofden als Bloemen

screenprint
1977
49 x 49 cm
Edition 300
Price on request

Pepie en Jaco

screenprint
1981
24 x 32 cm
Edition 150
Price on request

Rustende Kikker

screenprint
1978
43 x 63 cm
Edition 250
Price on request

De Neige (avec Dotremont)

screenprint
1982
63 x 77 cm
Edition 100
Price on request

Friday – Head against Green Grass

screenprint
1977
85 x 70 cm
Edition 100
Price on request

Monday – Bird in Summer Landscape

screenprint
1977
85 x 70 cm
Edition 100
Price on request

Kijk naar Mij

screenprint
1977
49 x 49 cm
Edition 300
Price on request

Confidence

lithograph
1969
54 x 67 cm
Edition 125
Price on request

La Vierge Noire

sculpture
1966
217 x 144 x 60 cm
Sold

Au Pays Noirs

lithograph
1960
57 x 76 cm
Edition 125
Price on request

Untitled

lithograph
1962
60 x 90 cm
Edition 30/50
Price on request

Rustende Beer

screenprint
1985
43 x 31 cm
Edition 50
Price on request

Personage Rouge

lithograph
1969
55 x 70 cm
Edition 120
Price on request

Tête Montagne

aquatint, etching
1976
116 x 131 cm
Edition 80
Price on request

A Beast Drawn Man

lithograph
1961
50 x 80 cm
Edition 75
Price on request