Biography
Karel Appel was a Dutch painter and sculptor. He studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts in his home city, Amsterdam, between 1940 to 1943, then swiftly embarked on the road to freedom. After working with the experimental group Reflex in autumn 1948 in Paris, he became one of the founders of the CoBrA group. United by their shared interest in experimentation and in naïve, primitive and popular art, they believed that art could be practised with great freedom, released from established pathways and associating with artists from a variety of disciplines.
After moving to Paris in the early 1950s, Appel turned to the American scene, where he soon found recognition on the East and West coasts. Throughout his 60-year career, the artist demonstrated intense creative energy, producing paintings, sculptures and engravings with often dazzlingly bright colors that enthused his expressionist figuration.
Karel Appel’s works have been the focus of many exhibitions around the world. They form part of the collections of prestigious museums, including the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Tate Modern, London; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Musée d’art moderne de Paris; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; National Museum of Art, Osaka; and the Musée d’art moderne et d’art contemporain, Nice.
