Karel Appel was born in 1921 in Amsterdam, Holland. He attends the Academy ofFine Arts of Amsterdam from 1940-1943, at the same time as his friend Corneille.He shows interest in Picasso, Klee and Matisse and his work is thus influencedby these artists. He has his first exhibition in 1946, and meets Constant thefollowing year.

In 1948, he participates with Corneille and Constant, in the creation of anexperimental group, the « Reflex », who enter in opposition with geometricabstraction already dominant in Holland in the wake of Mondrian and VanDoesburg.

In perfect accordance with them, the group joins the Cobra movement in 1949,notably agreeing with their desire to experiment with collective creations,materials and techniques. This will be for Appel, an era of anthropomorphicassemblage and of tridimensional paintings.

The artist moves to Paris in 1950. He now paints violent works, painting withsigns and materials, works devoid of all reference to reality. The demandingnature of the Cobra group finds itself, in the same era of “American actionpaintings”. A little later on, Appel realizes that his multicolored expressionpoorly accommodates an informal void, also his works lean towards a returntowards infantile or primitive designs, the artist reconstructs his own usage of“graphism in a wild state”. Appel now makes allusion to figuration, withimaginary landscapes, undefined animals and sorrowful nudes.

In 1957, the year of his first visit to the United States, Appel paints aseries of Jazz musician (Count Basie, Miles Davis, etc.) and other series follow(nudes, portraits, etc.). He strives to transcribe again the violent sentimentsby which he inspired the world.

In 1964, he starts to work on large polychrome reliefs, then on wood andpolyester sculptures.

In 1976, Appel collaborates with inhabitants of the shanty towns of Lima,Peru to paint murals. Tireless, he pursues his work: painting, graphics,reliefs, etc. He explores lithographs, sculpture, collage, murals, stainglassand mixed techniques. Appel collects scraps and urban waste that he integratesinto his canvas, showing his anger that he carries with him, his part ofviolence and a means also to exorcize them.

Karel Appel died in Zurich on May 11, 2006.