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)

Big bird

Karel Appel

Sale Date: December 7, 2006

Auction Closed

Paris (portfolio of 5 w/text by Hugo Claus), 1954

Karel Appel

Paris (portfolio of 5 w/text by Hugo Claus), 1954

Sale Date: December 7, 2006

Auction Closed

Beast drawn man (bk w/7 works, text & justif.)

Karel Appel

Beast drawn man (bk w/7 works, text & justif.)

Sale Date: December 7, 2006

Auction Closed

Three birds

Karel Appel

Sale Date: December 7, 2006

Auction Closed

Personnage

Karel Appel

Sale Date: December 7, 2006

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Creature

Karel Appel

Sale Date: December 7, 2006

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1960

Karel Appel

Untitled, 1960

Sale Date: December 7, 2006

Auction Closed

Floating in white, 1974

Karel Appel

Floating in white, 1974

Sale Date: December 7, 2006

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Untitled, 1975

Karel Appel

Untitled, 1975

Sale Date: December 7, 2006

Auction Closed

Wandelend dier, 1976

Karel Appel

Wandelend dier, 1976

Sale Date: December 7, 2006

Auction Closed

Can we dance the landscape? (portfolio of 4), 1989

Karel Appel

Can we dance the landscape? (portfolio of 4), 1989

Sale Date: December 6, 2006

Auction Closed

Sad little fellow, 1969–1970

Karel Appel

Sad little fellow, 1969–1970

Sale Date: December 6, 2006

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The boy with the red face, 1970

Karel Appel

The boy with the red face, 1970

Sale Date: December 6, 2006

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City with clouds, 1984

Karel Appel

City with clouds, 1984

Sale Date: December 6, 2006

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Textile design, 1960

Karel Appel

Textile design, 1960

Sale Date: December 6, 2006

Auction Closed

Textile design, 1960

Karel Appel

Textile design, 1960

Sale Date: December 6, 2006

Auction Closed

Textile design, 1960

Karel Appel

Textile design, 1960

Sale Date: December 6, 2006

Auction Closed

Figure, 1960

Karel Appel

Sale Date: December 6, 2006

Auction Closed

Flying together, 1961

Karel Appel

Flying together, 1961

Sale Date: December 6, 2006

Auction Closed

Beest - Beast, 1951

Karel Appel

Beest - Beast, 1951

Sale Date: December 6, 2006

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1958

Karel Appel

Untitled, 1958

Sale Date: December 6, 2006

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L'homme et cheval, 1983

Karel Appel

L'homme et cheval, 1983

Sale Date: December 6, 2006

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Untitled, 1958

Karel Appel

Untitled, 1958

Sale Date: December 6, 2006

Auction Closed

L'Oiseau blessé, 1956

Karel Appel

L'Oiseau blessé, 1956

Sale Date: December 6, 2006

Auction Closed

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