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)

Figure and animal, 1971

Karel Appel

Figure and animal, 1971

Sale Date: June 25, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1959

Karel Appel

Untitled, 1959

Sale Date: June 10, 2020

Auction Closed

Tête longue, 1969

Karel Appel

Tête longue, 1969

Sale Date: June 24, 2020

Auction Closed

Circus II series: 8 plates, 1978

Karel Appel

Circus II series: 8 plates, 1978

Sale Date: June 15, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1947

Karel Appel

Untitled, 1947

Sale Date: June 18, 2020

Auction Closed

Personnage et Animaux (Figure and Animals), 1959

Karel Appel

Personnage et Animaux (Figure and Animals), 1959

Sale Date: June 18, 2020

Auction Closed

Animal, 1949

Karel Appel

Sale Date: June 18, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled

Karel Appel

Sale Date: June 9, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled

Karel Appel

Sale Date: June 9, 2020

Auction Closed

Oiseaux et tête

Karel Appel

Oiseaux et tête

Sale Date: June 17, 2020

Auction Closed

Deux personnages, 1958

Karel Appel

Deux personnages, 1958

Sale Date: June 17, 2020

Auction Closed

The kiss

Karel Appel

Sale Date: June 17, 2020

Auction Closed

Composition with figures, 1968

Karel Appel

Composition with figures, 1968

Sale Date: June 17, 2020

Auction Closed

Mannetje met rode bloem

Karel Appel

Mannetje met rode bloem

Sale Date: June 17, 2020

Auction Closed

Floating Family, 1976

Karel Appel

Floating Family, 1976

Sale Date: June 18, 2020

Auction Closed

David the Shepherd, David the Psalmist,..., 1982

Karel Appel

David the Shepherd, David the Psalmist,..., 1982

Sale Date: June 18, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled

Karel Appel

Sale Date: June 16, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled

Karel Appel

Sale Date: June 16, 2020

Auction Closed

Portrait, 1964

Karel Appel

Portrait, 1964

Sale Date: June 22, 2020

Auction Closed

Bird on Head; Personnage Avec Poisson; Kool..., 1963

Karel Appel

Bird on Head; Personnage Avec Poisson; Kool..., 1963

Sale Date: June 5, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled

Karel Appel

Sale Date: June 19, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled (Personnage), 1974

Karel Appel

Untitled (Personnage), 1974

Sale Date: June 19, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1955

Karel Appel

Untitled, 1955

Sale Date: June 19, 2020

Auction Closed

Mindscape No. 12, 1977

Karel Appel

Mindscape No. 12, 1977

Sale Date: May 28, 2020

Auction Closed

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