Karel Appel

This is the first exhibition in France to retrace the entirety of the artist’s long career as a painter and sculptor, featuring works chosen to examine his gesturality and creative spontaneity. Karel Appel is one of the founding members of the CoBrA group, created in Paris in 1948 and disbanded in 1951. This European group, comprising artists such as the Dane Asger Jorn and the Frenchman Pierre Alechinsky, sought to overcome post-war conflicts between abstract and figurative art while including a set of practices and interests inherited from surrealism such as primitivism, the spontaneity of the painterly gesture, and an international scope. The members of CoBrA were also interested in various popular Nordic myths and children’s drawings. In his work, Karel Appel was particularly drawn to the naiveté of the child’s gaze. He was also a traveller, living in several countries, including France, where he settled in 1950. At that point critics such as Michel Tapié and Michel Ragon actively supported him. His works can now be found in the world’s top museums: Centre Pompidou in Paris, MOMA in New York, Tate Modern in London, Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, etc.  
CURATOR : Choghakate Kazarian#KarelAppel