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)
Senza titolo

Karel Appel

Senza titolo

Sale Date: June 11, 2021

Auction Closed

Figure, 1973, 1973

Karel Appel

Figure, 1973, 1973

Sale Date: June 11, 2021

Auction Closed

Senza titolo

Karel Appel

Senza titolo

Sale Date: June 11, 2021

Auction Closed

Senza titolo, 1962, 1962

Karel Appel

Senza titolo, 1962, 1962

Sale Date: June 11, 2021

Auction Closed

Le chien (the dog), 1975

Karel Appel

Le chien (the dog), 1975

Sale Date: June 24, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1977

Karel Appel

Untitled, 1977

Sale Date: June 10, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1973

Karel Appel

Untitled, 1973

Sale Date: June 10, 2021

Auction Closed

CIRCUS WAGON, 1977

Karel Appel

CIRCUS WAGON, 1977

Sale Date: June 17, 2021

Auction Closed

Personnage, 1983, 1983

Karel Appel

Personnage, 1983, 1983

Sale Date: June 8, 2021

Auction Closed

SANS TITRE, 1970

Karel Appel

SANS TITRE, 1970

Sale Date: June 16, 2021

Auction Closed

Visage

Karel Appel

Visage

Sale Date: June 9, 2021

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Figure

Karel Appel

Figure

Sale Date: June 8, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1974

Karel Appel

Untitled, 1974

Sale Date: June 23, 2021

Auction Closed

Floating Passion Flower

Karel Appel

Floating Passion Flower

Sale Date: June 10, 2021

Auction Closed

Flying High in the Night Sky, 1977

Karel Appel

Flying High in the Night Sky, 1977

Sale Date: June 10, 2021

Auction Closed

Clown Flower, 1978

Karel Appel

Clown Flower, 1978

Sale Date: June 10, 2021

Auction Closed

Mouse on a Table, 1971

Karel Appel

Mouse on a Table, 1971

Sale Date: June 10, 2021

Auction Closed

Deux Figures, 1969

Karel Appel

Deux Figures, 1969

Sale Date: June 10, 2021

Auction Closed

Japanese Landscape #3, 1997

Karel Appel

Japanese Landscape #3, 1997

Sale Date: June 4, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1948

Karel Appel

Untitled, 1948

Sale Date: July 1, 2021

Auction Closed

Tête jaune, 1973

Karel Appel

Tête jaune, 1973

Sale Date: July 1, 2021

Auction Closed

Tête Eclatée, 1960

Karel Appel

Tête Eclatée, 1960

Sale Date: June 3, 2021

Auction Closed

Composition en noir et rouge, 1978., 1978

Karel Appel and Pierre Alechinsky

Composition en noir et rouge, 1978., 1978

Sale Date: May 31, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1967

Karel Appel

Untitled, 1967

Sale Date: June 18, 2021

Auction Closed