Composition
1965
A vibrant and expressive work by Dutch CoBrA artist Karel Appel, this oil on paper laid on canvas bursts with bold, gestural brushstrokes and raw, uninhibited energy. Appel's characteristic use of vivid, clashing colors and aggressive mark-making creates a dynamic composition that evokes a sense of primal emotion and childlike spontaneity. The work exemplifies the CoBrA movement's rejection of rational form in favor of instinctive, expressive freedom.
- Medium
- oil on paper laid on canvas
- Location
- Phillips, Salt Lake City, UT
- Spotted At
- Auction House · PhillipsView on map
🔨 Auction Lot
New Now
April 11, 2019
Artists in conversation
Asger Jorn
Danish · b. 1914
As a co-founder of the CoBrA movement alongside Appel, Jorn shared an identical commitment to raw gestural brushwork, violently clashing color combinations, and instinctive mark-making that rejected rational artistic conventions in favor of primal expressive energy.
Jean-Paul Riopelle
Canadian · b. 1923
Riopelle's heavily gestural oil works employ the same bold uninhibited energy and densely packed impasto brushstrokes seen in this Appel composition, channeling a similarly explosive emotional intensity through vivid fragmented color fields.
Willem de Kooning
Dutch American · b. 1904
De Kooning's Abstract Expressionist canvases share Appel's aggressive mark-making, vibrant clashing color palette, and feverish gestural freedom, both artists working simultaneously in the mid century modern era to dissolve rational form through visceral painterly instinct.
Start the Discussion
Request access to join the discussion