Karel Appel
Karel Appel
1921 - 2006
Karel Appel was an accomplished painter, sculptor and poet, and a founding member of the avant-garde movement CoBrA. He developed an international reputation for his expressive colours and forms that rejected modish aesthetics.

Born on April 25, 1921, Appel studied at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam from 1940 to 1943. His early work was inspired by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Jean Dubuffet. In 1946, Appel appeared in his first group show at Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum with fellow artists Eugène Brands, Guillaume Corneille and Anton Rooskens. Together they formed the Dutch Experimental Group, which was the cradle of the CoBrA movement. Unified by a doctrine of complete freedom of colour and form, as well as a shared interest in modernism and Surrealism, CoBrA’s artists also embraced folk and children’s art, which characterized Appel’s style. His work distinguished itself through colourful, semiabstract compositions, and dense layering of pigments with powerful brushwork.

In 1953, Appel was given his first important solo exhibition at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. The following year he represented the Netherlands at the 27th Venice Biennale, and he won the UNESCO award. During the 1950s and 1960s, he was commissioned to paint numerous murals for public places. Appel worked simultaneously in painting and sculpture, and his figurative sculptures made of wood and metal share the crude, imaginative expressionism found in his paintings.

As a result of his extensive travels through Europe and the Americas, Appel developed international status. He participated in many solo and group exhibitions, and his work has been featured at the Tate, the MoMA and other key museums and galleries worldwide. Appel was the recipient of the Dutch royal award in 1968 and was decorated again in 1999; he also received the French Légion d’Honneur, in the grade of Officer, in 2003.
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Untitled by Karel Appel sold for $289,250
Karel Appel
Untitled
50 x 30 in, 127 x 76.2 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $250,000 - $350,000 CDN
Sold for: $289,250 CDN (premium included)
Post-War & Contemporary Art on Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Comme les planètes by Karel Appel sold for $271,250
Karel Appel
Comme les planètes
51 x 76 3/4 in, 129.5 x 194.9 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $250,000 - $350,000 CDN
Sold for: $271,250 CDN (premium included)
Post-War & Contemporary Art on Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Cyclops by Karel Appel sold for $74,750
Karel Appel
Cyclops
39 1/2 x 32 in, 100.3 x 81.3 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $60,000 - $80,000 CDN
Sold for: $74,750 CDN (premium included)
April 2007 1st Session on Saturday, April 28, 2007
Mother and Child by Karel Appel sold for $64,900
Karel Appel
Mother and Child
48 x 45 in, 121.9 x 114.3 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $70,000 - $90,000 CDN
Sold for: $64,900 CDN (premium included)
April 2015 - 1st Session on Thursday, April 30, 2015
Wingy People by Karel Appel sold for $64,350
Karel Appel
Wingy People
36 x 42 in, 91.4 x 106.7 cm
oil on board
Estimate: $50,000 - $70,000 CDN
Sold for: $64,350 CDN (premium included)
April 2013 - 1st Session on Thursday, April 25, 2013
Untitled by Karel Appel sold for $34,500
Karel Appel
Untitled
22 x 29 1/2 in, 55.9 x 74.9 cm
1960
mixed media on Arches paper
Estimate: $30,000 - $40,000 CDN
Sold for: $34,500 CDN (premium included)
April 2008 - 1st Session on Saturday, April 26, 2008
Happy Faces by Karel Appel sold for $34,500
Karel Appel
Happy Faces
22 x 30 in, 55.9 x 76.2 cm
1975
acrylic on paper on canvas
Estimate: $40,000 - $50,000 CDN
Sold for: $34,500 CDN (premium included)
April 2008 - 1st Session on Saturday, April 26, 2008
Le petit bonhomme 1 by Karel Appel sold for $25,000
Karel Appel
Le petit bonhomme 1
25 1/4 x 17 3/4 in, 64.1 x 45.1 cm
oil on wood in relief
Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000 CDN
Sold for: $25,000 CDN (premium included)
Post-War & Contemporary Art on Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Three Together by Karel Appel sold for $22,420
Karel Appel
Three Together
23 1/4 x 35 1/4 in, 59.7 x 89.5 cm
mixed media and collage on paper
Estimate: $15,000 - $20,000 CDN
Sold for: $22,420 CDN (premium included)
October 2014 - 1st Session on Thursday, October 30, 2014
Jockey by Karel Appel sold for $22,230
Karel Appel
Jockey
22 1/2 x 32 in, 57.1 x 81.3 cm
gouache on paper
Estimate: $15,000 - $20,000 CDN
Sold for: $22,230 CDN (premium included)
October 2013 - 2nd Session on Thursday, October 31, 2013