Karel Appel

(Dutch, 1921–2006)

Karel Appel was an influential Dutch painter whose figurative abstractions employed expressive colors and forms. Like Jean Dubuffet, Appel found inspiration in the artwork of children and the rejection of sophisticated aesthetic tastes. “Painting, like passion, is an emotion full of truth and rings a living sound, like the roar coming from the lion's breast,” he reflected. “To paint is to destroy what preceded. I never try to make a painting, but a chunk of life.” Born on April 25, 1921 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, he went on to study at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten and had his first solo exhibition in 1946. Inspired by the work of Paul Klee and Joan Miró, Appel began experimenting with a rudimentary approach of describing subject matter reminiscent of folk art. In 1948, he helped form the CoBrA group (an acronym for the cities the artists were from: Copenhagen, Brussels, and Amsterdam), along with Asger Jorn, Constant, Corneille and others who were united in their rejection of rationalism and geometric abstraction. Following the dissolution of CoBrA in 1952, Appel joined Art Informel, another collection of abstract artists which included Michel Tapié and Henri Michaux. Through the following decades the artist continued his engagement with painterly expression and was the subject of several solo exhibitions. He died on May 3, 2006 in Zürich, Switzerland. Appel’s works are presently held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Karel Appel Artworks

Karel Appel (11,953 results)
UNTITLED (THREE FACES), 1966

Karel Appel

UNTITLED (THREE FACES), 1966

Waddington's

Est. 8,000–12,000 CAD

UNTITLED (A FIGURE)

Karel Appel

UNTITLED (A FIGURE)

Waddington's

Est. 20,000–25,000 CAD

Untitled

Karel Appel

Untitled

Bukowskis Stockholm

Est. 21,800–24,000 EUR

Untitled, 1960–1969

Karel Appel

Untitled, 1960–1969

Dorotheum

Est. 20,000–30,000 EUR

Untitled

Karel Appel

Untitled

Dorotheum

Est. 18,000–26,000 EUR

Tête Échevelée, 1977

Karel Appel

Tête Échevelée, 1977

Dorotheum

Est. 40,000–60,000 EUR

Tête Champignon, 1960

Karel Appel

Tête Champignon, 1960

Opera Gallery

Price on Request

Nesting Bird, 1978

Karel Appel

Nesting Bird, 1978

Mojo Portfolio

2,000–3,000 USD

Summer Couple, 1978

Karel Appel

Summer Couple, 1978

Mojo Portfolio

2,000–3,000 USD

Window, 1991

Karel Appel

Window, 1991

Gallery Delaive

Price on Request

Untitled, 1951

Karel Appel

Untitled, 1951

Jaski Gallery

Price on Request

Personages, 1991

Karel Appel

Personages, 1991

Gallery Delaive

Price on Request