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Contemporary Art
Karel Appel
Karel Appel, The Discovery, 1986, oil on canvas, 95 1/2 x 77 1/2". Collection of the ASU Art Museum, gift of Stéphane Janssen 1997.122.001.
About the Artist
Primitivism, Fauvism, Surrealism, Expressionism, Realism, Abstract Expressionism and Art Brut are just some of the terms used when discussing the art of Karel Appel.
Born in Amsterdam in 1921, Appel received his first painting lesson from his uncle at age 15. He attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam. His visit to Denmark in 1946 resulted in his association with artists who would later become part of COBRA, a group whose members would espouse Primitivism.
During World War II, the Netherlands was occupied and oppressed by the Nazi regime. After the war, Appel's art would repudiate this repression with its inhumane reason and order. He would seek the total freedom associated with the spontaneous and unfettered art of children. He looked to Van Gogh rather than Mondrian because Van Gogh's work portrayed the madness to which Appel could relate.
In 1949, Appel completed a mural for the cafeteria of Amsterdam City Hall. This piece, called Questioning Children, depicted the plight of the hordes of abandoned children after the war. However, those who viewed the work felt that it also reminded them of the time when they, too, were treated like children and given no respect. The public outcry excoriating the piece continued until it was finally whitewashed and covered completely.
Appel's art would go on to receive worldwide recognition and acclaim. He was given the UNESCO prize at the Venice Biennale in 1954, the Grand Prize for painting in the 5th San Paulo Biennale, the Guggenheim Award for the Netherlands, the title of Knight of the Orange Nassau Order by Queen Juliana of the Netherlands in 1968, and many other significant awards.
For his formidable sculptures, he used well-known friends and acquaintances. His Study for a Portrait of Stephane Janssen was part of this series. These Janus-faced figures were both "tragically serious and comically crazy."
Now let us look at Discovery, completed in 1986. The bold brush strokes help to dramatize this painting. Who is the figure looking down on the boat and what did this boat explore and discover? One feels fortunate to be allowed into Karel Appel's world. Mystery, tragedy, sophisticated naiveté and madness may be found in his work.
by Muriel Weithorn
ASU Art Museum Board Member and Research Volunteer
Suggested Reading:
Alley, Ronald. Catalogue of the Tate Gallery's Collection of Modern Art other than Works by British Artists, Tate Gallery and Sotheby Parke-Bernet, London, 1981, (pp.16-17).
Kuspit, Donald. Karel Appel Sculpture, A Catalogue Raisonne, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 1994.