Karel Appel

by Karel Appel

Artwork by Karel Appel. Contributions by Rudi Fuchs, Rudi Fuchs.

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Christiaan Karel Appel (Dutch: [krɪsˈtiaːn ˈkɑrəl ɑpɔl] ( listen)) (25 April 1921 – 3 May 2006) was a Dutch painter, sculptor, and poet. He started painting at the age of fourteen and studied at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam in the 1940s. He was one of the founders of the avant-garde movement Cobra in 1948.

Reviews

[Kerfe]

This book was published in 1980, and Karel Appel had 25 more years of work in him. So it's an incomplete picture, particularly of the creations themselves. Yet maybe not so much of the man.

There is biographical information, there are excerpts of Appel's own writings, there is a long interview. A man with a colorful history, an ample ego, and many many things to say:

"I am always inspired, that is life. The whole day is life"

"We do not need the promise of heaven to live a good life, if we live consciously as human beings....We are all dying. This is the stimulus which gives dramatic force, color, and joy to our short sojourn in this world."

"You have to have the courage to start from scratch at any moment."

The colors of Appel are what first attracted me. I love best his sculptural constructions, but the de Kooning-like nudes were new to me and are quite wonderful.

A worthy introduction to both the art and the man.