Description

APPEL, Karel (1921-)"Couple"Oil on canvasSigned on the lower left: AppelSigned and titled on the stretcherTitled and dated on the reverse on a label of the gallery Agnès Lefort“A painting is no longer a construction of colours and strokes, but an animal, a night, a cry, a man, it becomes one and indivisible”. Karel AppelBorn in Amsterdam in 1921, Karel Appel quickly became passionate about art, which he studied in Amsterdam from 1940 to 1943. In 1948, he co-founded the Reflex group, which gave birth to the Cobra group several months after, whose members were clearly in opposition to the Parisian elitist art. Then, they drew their inspiration from new sources, such as primitive arts, mad’s and children’s drawings. The influence of the latter is clearly noticeable in the painting we present.In a square composition, a vast space as well as narrow by its shape, the artist depicts a quickly and spontaneously brushed couple of characters with deep impasti. The naïve depiction of the faces as well as the spontaneity remind us children’s drawings.The strength of the painting lies in the its vibrant colors, its large impasti as well as its ambivalence: from what seems to be, prima facie, an abstraction, faces appeared suddenly. The painting then makes sense: it becomes more human.66x71cm - 26x28"