KAREL APPEL

• KAREL APPEL was a Dutch painter who became a leading figure in the postwar European avant-garde and one of the founding members of CoBrA, established in 1948. After studying at the art academy in Amsterdam, he drew inspiration from children’s drawings, primitive art, and the work of patients in psychiatric institutions, pursuing a free and experimental approach that rejected established artistic conventions and rational forms of composition. Vivid colours, heavily worked surfaces, and vigorous brushstrokes enabled him to create forms suggestive of human and animal figures, developing a distinctive pictorial language that moved between figuration and abstraction. From the 1950s onward, he also produced large-scale paintings, sculptures, ceramics, and stage designs, continuing to experiment with new materials and techniques throughout his career.