Karel Appel - Drawings

Karel Appel (1921–2006) was one of the foremost artists of the Netherlands post-1945. As co-founder of the group CoBrA (Copenhagen/Brussels/Amsterdam), he created an international avant-garde network and was one of the expressive artists who brought about a post-war artistic revival. From the 1950s onwards, he spent a great deal of time in Paris and New York, where his work soon enjoyed international success. Today his brightly coloured sculptures can be seen in many public spaces and his often large-scale canvases are represented in many museums around the world. By contrast, Karel Appel’s drawings have very rarely been seen. Drawing was not merely a by-product of painting for Appel, however. He was continually creating spontaneous works on paper, producing them in creative spurts which also helped him clarify his art as a whole. The childish creatures of his early years, the almost abstract, expressive outbursts of the 1950s and his experiments with collage can all be found reflected, in a quite individual way, in his drawings. This retrospective, assembled from the artist’s estate (Paris, Centre Pompidou, 21.10.2015 - 11.1.2016), offers the first comprehensive survey of Appel’s works on paper for several decades.