Karel Appel - Silkscreen, untitled, framed

Hand signed in pencil.
Circulation 89/175
The work is H. 52 x W. 74 cm, framed H. 74 x W. 94 cm.
The Dutch painter, sculptor and poet Karel Appel was born in Amsterdam on 25 April 1921. He was the son of a barber and enrolled at the Rijksacademie voor Beeldende Kunsten after a quarrel with his father. During the Second World War, Appel met Corneille during his training.
Paris
After the war, Karel Appel travelled with Corneille to Liège and later to Paris. In 1947, Appel also met Constant. Appel, Corneille and Constant exhibited in 1948 at the Santee Landweer art dealership in Amsterdam. In July 1948, Karel Appel was one of the founders of the Dutch Experimental Group and in November 1948 he was involved in the founding of Cobra.
Cobra
Karel Appel initially became the figurehead of the Cobra movement in the Netherlands and later in the rest of the world. The term "I just mess around" was used negatively by opponents of Appel's expressive style, but it does indicate how Karel Appel worked: he took a subject and came to a result while working. In the forties and fifties, Karel Appel's work caused heated discussions. His mural 'Vragende kinderen' (Questioning Children) painted in the canteen of Amsterdam city hall in 1949 soon disappeared behind wallpaper, because indignant civil servants were disturbed during lunch.