Appel, Karel

Karel Appel was born in Amsterdam in the family of a hairdresser and after graduation he worked in his father's hairdresser ^[2] . In the years 1940-1943. studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam ^[3] . In early works, the influence of Matisse and Picasso is felt.

After the Second World War, the artist’s style changes significantly under the influence of primitive art and arbrut ^[3] . In 1946, the first exhibition of his works; in the same year, Appel makes a trip to Denmark , where he meets artists - future members of the COBRA association. In 1948, Karel Appel and other young Dutch artists form the so-called Netherlands experimental group, which a few months later the Belgian Pierre Aleschinsky and the Danes Asger Jorn join. The first letters in the name of the capitals of their home countries ( Copenhagen , Brussels , Amsterdam ) will give a new name to the group. The purpose of unification is expression through painting instincts and the subconscious of man; among the expressive means are bright, flashy tones and fantastic images ^[3] .

During this period, Karel Appel creates works from garbage and discarded objects ^[4] . One of his most famous works dates back to the years 1948-49: the wooden relief “Inquiring Children” ( Dutch: Vragende kinderen ), consisting of fragments of wood attached to an old window frame. In the years 1948-49. Appel performed three versions of this work, which is a rough, schematic depiction of children with faces similar to masks ^[5] . The figures are deliberately carelessly painted with gouache : bright colors and "sloppy" coloring evoke associations with children's art, in which members of the COBRA association saw the most important source of updating contemporary art and its liberation from conventions accumulated over many centuries.
In 1949, Appel creates a custom mural in which he uses the same plot. The fresco was supposed to be in the dining room of the Amsterdam City Hall, and the committee of the City Council approved the preliminary sketch. March 14, 1949 the work was completed. It caused a wave of sharp criticism and a lot of negative reviews, as a result of which it was closed for 10 years ^[5] .
The work that caused the public scandal has a deep social subtext. In the Dutch language, the word vragende can be interpreted in two ways - “questioning” and “asking (alms)” - therefore the children depicted on the relief, looking directly at the viewer’s face, should remind of the poverty of post-war Germany, which the artist himself witnessed ^[5] . Bright colors, talking about the joy and immediacy of childhood, contrast with the non-childish static of wooden figures and their face masks with an expression of horror in their eyes. These children look at the world that adults have destroyed, and it is easy to guess what they are asking - “Why?”.

In 1950, Appel moved to Paris. In 1952, he left the COBRA association and joined the French informational movement ^[4] .

In subsequent years, Appel travels a lot and visits Mexico , the USA , Yugoslavia , Brazil , Japan , and China . In 1964, acquires a castle near Auxerre ; For a long time lives in New York , Florence , Zurich . He comes to international recognition; exhibitions of his works are organized in a number of countries.

Karel Appel died at his home in Zurich on May 3, 2006. ^[4] He was buried in Pere Lachaise Cemetery .

In different years, Appel was close to surrealism , abstractionism , ar-brut . He is also included in the circle of masters of the Paris School . The artist’s style is characterized by a combination of figurativeness and abstraction, as well as expressive deformation of figures ^[2] . The collage technique is close to him; he often includes certain material objects in his works. The main genres of his paintings are landscape and portrait. After the scandal with “Inquiring children,” Appel began to call himself a barbarian and supported this image in every possible way: for example, while working on a picture, he literally “threw” paint on the canvas and made loud moans ^[2] .
Since the 1970s Appel began to give preference to sculpture as a genre that provides more opportunities in working on form ^[2] . As a material, it uses wood, aluminum, polyurethane , etc.

In addition to painting and graphics, Karel Appel worked as an artist in the drama, ballet and opera theater, and also acted as a poet and musician.

• Psychopathologisches Notizbuch. Zeichnungen und Gouachen 1948-1950. Bern; Berlin: Verlag Gachnang & Springer, 1997
• Der Machtwille der Planeten / Ich bin der Planet / Du bist der Planet / Wir sind die Planeten. Gedichte aus den Jahren 1941-1996. Bern; Berlin: Verlag Gachnang & Springer, 2000.

Venice Biennale Award (1954), International Graphic Award at the Biennale in Ljubljana (1954), Grand Biennale Award in São Paulo (1959), Guggenheim Foundation International Award (1960). Appel received the last of these prizes at the age of 39 (for the painting “Woman with a Bouquet”, created two years earlier) and became the youngest of the artists who ever won it ^[2] .

• I. Mosin, A. Savelyeva. Great illustrated encyclopedia. Masters of painting. 1000 artists from the Renaissance to modernism / Vol. Editor S.Yu. Afonkin. - Vilnius: UAB “Bestiary”, 2012. - P. 188. - 208 p. - ISBN 978-609-456-105-4 .
• A. Boelke-Heinrichs, A. Czock, J. Dilling, B. Esser, A. Feise. 100 artists of the XX century / Editor E.V. Belioglov. - Chelyabinsk: Ural LTD, 1999. - S. 8-9. - 210 p. - ISBN 5-8029-0037-7 .
• Claus H. Karel Appel, painter. New York: HN Abrams 1962
• Ragon M. Karel Appel: peinture, 1937-1957. Paris: Éditions Galilée, 1988
• Kuspit DB Karel Appel sculpture: a catalog raisonné. New York: HN Abrams, 1994
• Lyotard JF Karel Appel: Ein Farbgestus. Essay zur Kunst Karel Appels. Bern; Berlin: Verlag Gachnang & Springer, 1998.
• Houts C. van. Karel Appel: de biografie. Amsterdam: Olympus, 2003

• Appel / M.N. Sokolov // Ankylosis - Bank. - M .: Big Russian Encyclopedia, 2005. - P. 124. - ( Big Russian Encyclopedia : [in 35 vols.] / Ch. Ed. Yu. S. Osipov ; 2004—2017, vol. 2). - ISBN 5-85270-330-3 .
• Karel Appel Foundation Date of treatment February 8, 2015. Archived July 23, 2012.
• The list of exhibitions since 1953 and museums in which the artist's works are located
• Works in museums of the world
• Online Jobs
• About the work "Questioning Children" on the website of the Tate Britain Museum . Date of treatment February 8, 2015.