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 News

What I Buy and Why

Philanthropist Jordan Schnitzer on the Joy of Sharing His Collection and the Art He Wakes Up to Every Day

by Lee Carter
Philanthropist Jordan Schnitzer on the Joy of Sharing His Collection and the Art He Wakes Up to Every Day
Gallery Network

Spotlight: An Exhibition in Milan Juxtaposes Two of Midcentury Europe's Most Intriguing Artists, Karel Appel and Enrico Baj

by Artnet Gallery Network
Spotlight: An Exhibition in Milan Juxtaposes Two of Midcentury Europe's Most Intriguing Artists, Karel Appel and Enrico Baj
Art Fairs

Dealers Report Only a Smattering of Sales at Art Basel and TEFAF's Online Art Fairs, Raising Doubts About the Value of the Virtual Events

by Eileen Kinsella
Dealers Report Only a Smattering of Sales at Art Basel and TEFAF's Online Art Fairs, Raising Doubts About the Value of the Virtual Events

Karel Appel Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Karel Appel (11,953 results)
Composition, 1959

Karel Appel

Composition, 1959

Sale Date: September 14, 2021

Auction Closed

Composition, 1971

Karel Appel

Composition, 1971

Sale Date: September 7, 2021

Auction Closed

GRAND TETE

Karel Appel

GRAND TETE

Sale Date: September 10, 2021

Auction Closed

Miss Shanghai Very Sexy Eyes - Miss World..., 1964

Karel Appel

Miss Shanghai Very Sexy Eyes - Miss World..., 1964

Sale Date: September 14, 2021

Auction Closed

Miss Shanghai Very Sexy Eyes - Miss World..., 1964

Karel Appel

Miss Shanghai Very Sexy Eyes - Miss World..., 1964

Sale Date: September 14, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1963

Karel Appel

Untitled, 1963

Sale Date: September 15, 2021

Auction Closed

Komposition, 1975

Karel Appel

Komposition, 1975

Sale Date: September 20, 2021

Auction Closed

Composition

Karel Appel

Composition

Sale Date: August 31, 2021

Auction Closed

Ten.

Karel Appel

Ten.

Sale Date: September 7, 2021

Auction Closed

Deux visages., 1960

Karel Appel

Deux visages., 1960

Sale Date: September 7, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1960

Karel Appel

Untitled, 1960

Sale Date: August 19, 2021

Auction Closed

Once I Was the Sun, 1978

Karel Appel

Once I Was the Sun, 1978

Sale Date: August 11, 2021

Auction Closed

Visage, 1976

Karel Appel

Visage, 1976

Sale Date: August 17, 2021

Auction Closed

Pagliacci, from Metropolitan Opera Fine Art II, 1984

Karel Appel

Pagliacci, from Metropolitan Opera Fine Art II, 1984

Sale Date: August 17, 2021

Auction Closed

Seeing Eyes, 1975

Karel Appel

Seeing Eyes, 1975

Sale Date: August 17, 2021

Auction Closed

PERSONNAGE - 1971, 1971

Karel Appel

PERSONNAGE - 1971, 1971

Sale Date: August 11, 2021

Auction Closed

Heads in a Colorful Landscape, 1965

Karel Appel

Heads in a Colorful Landscape, 1965

Sale Date: July 23, 2021

Auction Closed

Reclining Nude, 1989

Karel Appel

Reclining Nude, 1989

Sale Date: July 21, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1978

Karel Appel

Untitled, 1978

Sale Date: July 21, 2021

Auction Closed

UNTITLED

Karel Appel

UNTITLED

Sale Date: July 15, 2021

Auction Closed

PERSONNAGES AVEC POISSON; KOOL LUKE..., 1963–1977

Karel Appel

PERSONNAGES AVEC POISSON; KOOL LUKE..., 1963–1977

Sale Date: July 15, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (Happy New Year), 1995

Karel Appel

Untitled (Happy New Year), 1995

Sale Date: July 18, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1974

Karel Appel

Untitled, 1974

Sale Date: July 13, 2021

Auction Closed

Hello, my baby!, 1974

Karel Appel

Hello, my baby!, 1974

Sale Date: July 22, 2021

Auction Closed

English (US)

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