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.

Related Categories

Contemporary Art, Drawings and Works on Paper, Prints and Multiples, Sculpture

Related Artists

Pierre Alechinsky, Jean Dubuffet, Asger Jorn, Walasse Ting

Most Expensive Artwork Sold at Auction

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

Karel Appel Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Karel Appel (11,953 results)
Paysage Imagioneuse (Imaginary Landscape), 1959

Karel Appel

Paysage Imagioneuse (Imaginary Landscape), 1959

Sale Date: November 2, 2016

Auction Closed

Personnage (Figure), 1952

Karel Appel

Personnage (Figure), 1952

Sale Date: November 2, 2016

Auction Closed

De Blijde en Onvoorziene Week (The Happy and , 1950

Karel Appel

De Blijde en Onvoorziene Week (The Happy and , 1950

Sale Date: November 2, 2016

Auction Closed

Cat, 1951

Karel Appel

Cat, 1951

Sale Date: November 2, 2016

Auction Closed

Vogeltje (Little Bird), 1950

Karel Appel

Vogeltje (Little Bird), 1950

Sale Date: November 2, 2016

Auction Closed

Kinderschilderij (Child's Painting), 1949

Karel Appel

Kinderschilderij (Child's Painting), 1949

Sale Date: November 1, 2016

Auction Closed

Kompozice, 1969

Karel Appel

Kompozice, 1969

Sale Date: October 26, 2016

Auction Closed

Four figural prints, 1973

Karel Appel

Four figural prints, 1973

Sale Date: October 26, 2016

Auction Closed

Close Together, 1977

Karel Appel

Close Together, 1977

Sale Date: October 26, 2016

Auction Closed

Six abstract prints, 1978

Karel Appel

Six abstract prints, 1978

Sale Date: October 26, 2016

Auction Closed

Dutch Come Back Pussy Cat, 1974

Karel Appel

Dutch Come Back Pussy Cat, 1974

Sale Date: October 16, 2016

Auction Closed

Kijk Leef Speel Met Karel Appel (portfolio..., 1977

Karel Appel

Kijk Leef Speel Met Karel Appel (portfolio..., 1977

Sale Date: October 27, 2016

Auction Closed

Astratto

Karel Appel

Astratto

Sale Date: October 25, 2016

Auction Closed

COMPOSITIONS, 1969

Karel Appel

COMPOSITIONS, 1969

Sale Date: October 28, 2016

Auction Closed

Dancing Man, 1970

Karel Appel

Dancing Man, 1970

Sale Date: October 13, 2016

Auction Closed

De Vliegende, 1949

Karel Appel

De Vliegende, 1949

Sale Date: October 20, 2016

Auction Closed

PAYSAGES HUMAINS, 1961

Karel Appel

PAYSAGES HUMAINS, 1961

Sale Date: October 18, 2016

Auction Closed

Abstract blue figure with black lines, 1957

Karel Appel

Abstract blue figure with black lines, 1957

Sale Date: October 7, 2016

Auction Closed

Wizard; Circus Series, 1978

Karel Appel

Wizard; Circus Series, 1978

Sale Date: October 15, 2016

Auction Closed

Black Figures Against White, 1975

Karel Appel

Black Figures Against White, 1975

Sale Date: October 6, 2016

Auction Closed

L'OISEAU EN CHASSE, 1961

Karel Appel

L'OISEAU EN CHASSE, 1961

Sale Date: October 8, 2016

Auction Closed

Paysages Humains, 1961, 1961

Karel Appel

Paysages Humains, 1961, 1961

Sale Date: September 17, 2016

Auction Closed

Personnage: Jaune, Vert, Rouge (3), 1975

Karel Appel

Personnage: Jaune, Vert, Rouge (3), 1975

Sale Date: October 9, 2016

Auction Closed

Hors blanc [Poème, 1958

Karel Appel

Hors blanc [Poème, 1958

Sale Date: September 17, 2016

Auction Closed

English (US)

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