Karel Appel 1921 – 2006

Karel Appel 1921-2006

“The Cobra bird”, 1950

 

Patinated bronze sculpture
 
Signed and dated: K. Appel 1950 H. C.
Edition of 6 plus 2 HC which this is one of the two
 

Provenance: collection Karel van Stuijvenberg, Caracas, Venezuela
 

Literature:
Karel Appel, The Complete Sculptures 1936-1990, p. 242
Exhibition catalogue, El movimiento Cobra en la colección Karel van Stuijvenberg, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas, Venezuela, 1984, cat. n° 23 ill. pp. 44-45
Exhibition catalogue, Cobra Liège 93, Coll. Karel P. van Stuijvenberg, Musée d’Art Moderne, Liège, Belgique, 1993, ill. p. 67 
Karel Appel, Sculpture, A catalogue Raisonne p. 150
Karel Appel, Abbeville Press, New York no. 155
Cobra, de weg naar Spontaniteit no. 65
The Cobra Movement – Fifty Years, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan p. 75
Karel Appel in Arti p. 67

Exhibitions: Cobra en la colección Karel van Stuijvenberg, 1984, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas, Venezuela
Cobra, 9 avril-31 mai 1993, Musée d’Art Moderne, Liège, Belgique
Year 1950
Artist Karel Appel 1921-2006
Price Price on request
Materials Bronze
Height 42 cm
Width 51 cm
Depth 34 cm

The story behind

 

Karel Appel (1921-2006) was a Dutch painter, sculptor and ceramist.

Appel studied at the state academy in Amsterdam from 1940-1943. After World War II he worked with drawings made by children and he had his first exhibition in Groningen in 1946.

He moved to Paris in 1950, where he shared an apartment with Corneille and Constant and he later became a symbol of the artist group COBRA. In his emotional paintings, you find dynamic shapes and strong colors.

Appel has among other things made murals at Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (City Museum of Modern Art) and illustrated poetry collections. He received UNESCO’s award in 1954 at the Venice Biennale and Guggenheim’s international award in 1960. Appel began painting reliefs in 1968, followed by large sculptures made of wood, polyester and later in aluminum.

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