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St. Clair County Community College Library

Karel Appel

About Karel Appel

SOURCE: http://www.artnet.com/artists/karel-appel/biography

Painter and sculptor Karel Appel (Dutch, 1921–2006) co-founded the art group CoBrA, and is known for his vibrant, forceful abstracted works, which helped introduce a new era of expressive painting in Europe. Appel was born in Amsterdam and attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in the early 1940s. He was drawn to the animated, primitive style of Jean Dubuffet in the years following the repressive, isolated environment of WWII in Amsterdam. In 1948 he founded CoBrA—an acronym for the cities the artists were from: Copenhagen, Brussels, and Amsterdam—with fellow artists Asger Jorn, Guillaume Corneille, and Pierre Alechinsky, advocating expressive and spontaneous painting techniques drawing on Folk Art and primitive imagery.

Appel’s work received both broad critical acclaim and unfavorable criticisms; a mural he painted on commission for the Amsterdam City Hall featured depictions of cynically smiling children so disturbing to workers that the mural was ordered to be covered up. In 1950 he moved to Paris, where he continued to gain critical recognition for his ironic imagery, bold brushstrokes, and energetic color. He received the UNESCO prize at the Venice Biennale in 1954, and the first prize at a Guggenheim International exhibition in 1960.

In later years Appel also worked with sculpture, assemblage, poetry, lithography, and set design. He held solo exhibitions around the world, in cities including New York, London, Paris, Milan, and Tokyo. Appel died at his home in Zürich in 2006, at 85 years old.


 

Sad Cat

Sad Cat
Creator Karel Appel
Title Sad Cat
Date 1979
Medium Lithograph
Measurements  39 x 32
Repository Saint Clair County Community College
Accession  December, 1979
Location Main Building, Room 319
ID Number 12003
Rights Terms of Use

Appel Sad Cat

Smiling Cat

Smiling Cat
Creator Karel Appel
Title Smiling Cat
Date 1979
Medium Lithograph
Measurements  39 x 32
Repository Saint Clair County Community College
Accession  December, 1979
Location Main Building, Room 319
ID Number 12012
Rights Terms of Use

Appel Smiling Cat

Devil Cat

Devil Cat
Creator Karel Appel
Title Devil Cat
Date 1979
Medium Lithograph
Measurements  39 x 32
Repository Saint Clair County Community College
Accession  December, 1979
Location Storage
ID Number 12014
Rights Terms of Use

Appel Devil Cat

About A Cat

About A Cat
Creator Karel Appel
Title About A Cat
Date 1979
Medium Lithograph
Measurements  39 x 32
Repository Saint Clair County Community College
Accession  December, 1979
Location Storage
ID Number 12007
Rights Terms of Use

Appel About A Cat

Luminous Cat

Liminous Cat
Creator Karel Appel
Title Luminous Cat
Date 1979
Medium Lithograph
Measurements  39 x 32
Repository Saint Clair County Community College
Accession  December, 1979
Location Storage
ID Number 12001
Rights Terms of Use

Appel Luminous Cat

Cat in Night

Cat in Night
Creator Karel Appel
Title Cat in Night
Date 1979
Medium Lithograph
Measurements  39 x 32
Repository Saint Clair County Community College
Accession  December, 1979
Location Storage
ID Number 12013
Rights Terms of Use

Appel Cat in Night

Sunshine Cat

Sunshine Cat
Creator Karel Appel
Title Sunshine Cat
Date 1979
Medium Lithograph
Measurements  39 x 32
Repository Saint Clair County Community College
Accession  December, 1979
Location Unknown
ID Number 12004
Rights Terms of Use

Appel Sunshine Cat

Innocent Cat

Innocent Cat
Creator Karel Appel
Title Innocent Cat
Date 1979
Medium Lithograph
Measurements  39 x 32
Repository Saint Clair County Community College
Accession  December, 1979
Location Unknown
ID Number 12006
Rights Terms of Use

Appel Innocent Cat

Frightened Cat

Frightened Cat
Creator Karel Appel
Title Frightened Cat
Date 1979
Medium Lithograph
Measurements  39 x 32
Repository Saint Clair County Community College
Accession  December, 1979
Location Storage
ID Number 12011
Rights Terms of Use

Appel Frightened Cat

Stalking Cat

Stalking Cat
Creator Karel Appel
Title Stalking Cat
Date 1979
Medium Lithograph
Measurements  39 x 32
Repository Saint Clair County Community College
Accession  December, 1979
Location Storage
ID Number 12018
Rights Terms of Use

Appel Stalking Cat

Fighting Cat

Fighting Cat
Creator Karel Appel
Title Fighting Cat
Date 1979
Medium Lithograph
Measurements  39 x 32
Repository Saint Clair County Community College
Accession  December, 1979
Location Storage
ID Number 12010
Rights Terms of Use

Appel Fighting Cat

Blue Cat

Blue Cat
Creator Karel Appel
Title Blue Cat
Date 1979
Medium Lithograph
Measurements  39 x 32
Repository Saint Clair County Community College
Accession  December, 1979
Location Storage
ID Number 12015
Rights Terms of Use

Appel Blue Cat

House Cat

House Cat
Creator Karel Appel
Title House Cat
Date 1979
Medium Lithograph
Measurements  39 x 32
Repository Saint Clair County Community College
Accession  December, 1979
Location Storage
ID Number 12008
Rights Terms of Use

Appel House Cat

Green Cat

Green Cat
Creator Karel Appel
Title Green Cat
Date 1979
Medium Lithograph
Measurements  39 x 32
Repository Saint Clair County Community College
Accession  December, 1979
Location Unknown
ID Number 12017
Rights Terms of Use

Appel Green Cat

Resting Cat

Resting Cat
Creator Karel Appel
Title Resting  Cat
Date 1979
Medium Lithograph
Measurements  39 x 32
Repository Saint Clair County Community College
Accession  December, 1979
Location Unknown
ID Number 12002
Rights Terms of Use

Appel Resting Cat

Walking Cat

Walking Cat
Creator Karel Appel
Title Walking Cat
Date 1979
Medium Lithograph
Measurements  39 x 32
Repository Saint Clair County Community College
Accession  December, 1979
Location Unknown
ID Number 12009
Rights Terms of Use

Appel Walking Cat

Pink Cat

Pink Cat
Creator Karel Appel
Title Pink Cat
Date 1979
Medium Lithograph
Measurements  39 x 32
Repository Saint Clair County Community College
Accession  December, 1979
Location Unknown
ID Number 12016
Rights Terms of Use

Appel Pink Cat