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.

Most Expensive Artwork Sold at Auction

Two birds and a Flower, 1951
Sold price: 1,098,772 USD

Karel Appel Artworks

Karel Appel (11,953 results)

Rhapsodie de ma nuit (bk by Emmanuel Looten w/6...

Karel Appel

Rhapsodie de ma nuit (bk by Emmanuel Looten w/6...

Sale Date: February 11, 2015

Auction Closed

Oiseaux (Birds), 1953

Karel Appel

Oiseaux (Birds), 1953

Sale Date: February 12, 2015

Auction Closed

Dier (Animal), 1948

Karel Appel

Dier (Animal), 1948

Sale Date: February 12, 2015

Auction Closed

Visage

Karel Appel

Sale Date: January 26, 2015

Auction Closed

Composition

Karel Appel

Sale Date: January 26, 2015

Auction Closed

A donkey too gentle for the cruel children, 1979

Karel Appel

A donkey too gentle for the cruel children, 1979

Sale Date: February 11, 2015

Auction Closed

Personnage, 1974

Karel Appel

Personnage, 1974

Sale Date: February 11, 2015

Auction Closed

Tête et oiseau, 1958

Karel Appel

Tête et oiseau, 1958

Sale Date: February 11, 2015

Auction Closed

Deux Personnage

Karel Appel

Deux Personnage

Sale Date: January 22, 2015

Auction Closed

Singing Hands (Gold)

Karel Appel

Singing Hands (Gold)

Sale Date: January 22, 2015

Auction Closed

Composition

Karel Appel

Sale Date: January 19, 2015

Auction Closed

Deux personnages, 1963

Karel Appel

Deux personnages, 1963

Sale Date: January 31, 2015

Auction Closed

Figure composition

Karel Appel

Figure composition

Sale Date: January 5, 2015

Auction Closed

Kikker rechtsonder get, 1978

Karel Appel

Kikker rechtsonder get, 1978

Sale Date: December 17, 2014

Auction Closed

Figural Composition, 1979

Karel Appel

Figural Composition, 1979

Sale Date: January 30, 2015

Auction Closed

Le dompteur a la rose de la série

Karel Appel

Le dompteur a la rose de la série "Circus", 1978

Sale Date: December 19, 2014

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1963

Karel Appel

Untitled, 1963

Sale Date: December 15, 2014

Auction Closed

Indian Head, 1970

Karel Appel

Indian Head, 1970

Sale Date: December 13, 2014

Auction Closed

Composition from Paysages Humains, 1961–1963

Karel Appel

Composition from Paysages Humains, 1961–1963

Sale Date: December 8, 2014

Auction Closed

Komposition, 1958

Karel Appel

Komposition, 1958

Sale Date: December 12, 2014

Auction Closed

Colourful figure

Karel Appel

Colourful figure

Sale Date: December 5, 2014

Auction Closed

PERSONNAGES, 1970

Karel Appel

PERSONNAGES, 1970

Sale Date: December 11, 2014

Auction Closed

The conversation, 1984

Karel Appel

The conversation, 1984

Sale Date: December 14, 2014

Auction Closed

Double Bird, 1952

Karel Appel

Double Bird, 1952

Sale Date: December 17, 2014

Auction Closed

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