Karel Appel

Born in Amsterdam in 1921, died in Zurich in 2006

Painter, sculptor, and poet.
As a sculptor, he used the technique of assemblage with very brightly colored paint.
He was one of the founders of the CoBrA movement in 1948, along with Corneille, Constant, and the Belgian poet Dotremont.
The movement was immediately popular in Denmark but controversial in the Netherlands.

Appel moved to Paris in 1950, traveled extensively, and then settled in New York and Florence.
As a painter, he is considered an Abstract Expressionist, known for his "childlike" style.
He died in Zurich at a time when CoBrA, of which he remains the most famous representative, was finally gaining recognition in Amsterdam thanks to Rudy Fuchs, who organized major exhibitions there.