Karel Appel

Karel Appel

Karel Appel - Galerie Max Hetzler Selected Works

A founding figure of CoBrA (1948-1951), which developed from the Dutch Experimental Group (1948), Karel Appel (1921-2006) began his career in the aftermath of the Second World War. Over the course of six decades, the artist experimented widely, across painting, sculpture, drawing, and stage design, distinguishing himself for his astonishing capacity to innovate; Appel never settled in a signature style, media or subject. Going beyond his classical, academic training at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam, the artist looked at folk art, as well as the uninhibited work of children and the mentally ill, whilst also drawing from jazz’s spirit of improvisation. Alternating between abstraction and figuration, Appel adopted a material-oriented approach in his practice, and promoted a genuine form of expression, an art which writer and curator Klaus Ottmann describes as “divorced from any political or didactic purpose”.

“The Appel effect represents painting and sculpture at their best. It is close to the heart, animalistic, idealistic and thoroughly experimental. It playfully combines ideology with matter and form, and pushes us beyond the boundaries imposed by the human condition.”

K. Ottmann, ’The Appel Effect’, in: Karel Appel. Retrospective, exh. cat., Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague; Cologne: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, 2016, p. 46

Image: Nude no. 32, 1995, © Karel Appel Foundation / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, 2019

Selected Works

Child IV, 1951

L’homme hibou no 1, 1960

Burning Child with Hoop, 1961
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Solo Exhibitions

Karel Appel - Galerie Max Hetzler

Object Paintings

Goethestraße 2/3, Berlin

February – 3 April 2021
KAREL APPEL - Galerie Max Hetzler

KAREL APPEL

Window Gallery, Goethestraße 2/3, Berlin

21 January – 9 March 2020
Karel Appel - Galerie Max Hetzler

Late Nudes, 1985 – 1995

Goethestraße 2/3, Berlin

15 November 2019 – 11 January 2020

Group Exhibitions

Karel Appel, André Butzer, William N. Copley, Ida Ekblad, Jeff Elrod, Walton Ford, Tursic & Mille - Galerie Max Hetzler

Karel Appel, André Butzer, William N. Copley, Ida Ekblad, Jeff Elrod, Walton Ford, Tursic & Mille

41 Dover Street, London

1 – 19 September 2020

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

Karel Appel 100

Karel Appel 100

Cobra Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Amstelveen

25 April – 24 October 2021
Karel Appel

A Gesture of Color

Paintings and Sculptures, 1947-2004

Phillips Collection, Washington D.C.

18 June – 18 September 2016
KAREL APPEL

A Retrospective

Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague

16 January – 16 May 2016
Karel Appel

I do not paint, I hit!

Museum Jorn, Silkeborg

2 June – 4 August 2013

Biography

Show Vita
Show Selected Bibliography

Publications

Karel Appel, Object Paintings - Galerie Max Hetzler

Karel Appel, Object Paintings

Exhibition Poster
2021

€ 20.00

Selected Press

Les Inrockuptibles July 2017

The New York Times February 2016

News

Karel Appel

Karel Appel 100 (solo show)
Cobra Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Amstelveen
25 April – 24 October 2021

On the occasion of Karel Appel's centennial, Cobra Museum voor Moderne Kunst is dedicating an exhibition to the artist, with both works from its collection and loans spanning from 1947 until 1961.

Cobra Museum voor Moderne Kunst
Karel Appel

Karel Appel et al.

WILD/SCHÖN. Tiere in der Kunst (group show)
Kunsthalle Emden, Emden
27 February – 4 July 2021

Works by Karel Appel are included in the group exhibition WILD/SCHÖN. Tiere in der Kunst, currently on view at the Kunsthalle Emden until 4 July 2021.

Kunsthalle Emden
Karel Appel