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Karel Appel
ONCE I WAS THE SUN Signed Lithograph, Abstract Face, Hot Pink Blue Yellow Red

1979

About the Item

ONCE I WAS THE SUN is a limited edition lithograph by the Dutch artist Karel Appel printed using hand lithography techniques on archival printmaking paper, 100% acid free. ONCE I WAS THE SUN is a joyful, imaginative abstract composition portraying a fantastic, wildly colored animal-like face comprised of two black eyes encircled by a cacophony of multicolor stripes printed in vibrant shades of blue, red, yellow, hot pink, light lavender, pine green, burgundy, light aqua blue, navy blue and black. Karel Appel's - ONCE I WAS THE SUN is a joyful, engaging color abstract lithograph alive with color! Print size - 21.75 x 29.75 in., unframed, excellent condition, hand signed in pencil by Karel Appel Year published - 1978 Edition - 175, plus proofs Karel Appel was one of the founders of the avant-garde art movement CoBrA, active during the late 1940's thru early 1950's. His paintings are known for incorporating applications of vibrant, violent colors often possessing a primal, childlike quality. Karel Appel, (born April 25, 1921, Amsterdam, Netherlands—died May 3, 2006, Zürich, Switzerland), Dutch painter of turbulent, colorful, and semi-abstract compositions, who was a co-founder (1948) of the CoBRA group of northern European Expressionists. He was also a noted sculptor and graphic artist. Appel attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Amsterdam (1940–43), and helped found the “Reflex” group, which became known as CoBRA (for Copenhagen, Brussels, and Amsterdam), in 1948. He moved to Paris in 1950 and by the 1960s had settled in New York City; he later lived in Italy and Switzerland. Partly in reaction against what they perceived as the sterile academicism of the de Stijl movement, the CoBRA artists assimilated a variety of more-impulsive influences, including folk art, children’s art, and l’art brut (“raw art”) of Jean Dubuffet. They exploited the spontaneity and intensity of the contemporary American Action painting while maintaining a degree of representation. Appel’s style is characterized by thick layering of pigment, violent brushwork, and a crude, reductive figuration. Appel first visited the United States in 1957, where he painted portraits of prominent jazz musicians, including Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. His public works include a mural in the UNESCO building in Paris. His figurative sculptures in wood and metal share with the paintings a brutal, imaginative expressionism. Artist bio - Encyclopedia Britannica
  • Creator:
    Karel Appel (1921 - 2006, Dutch)
  • Creation Year:
    1979
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 21.75 in (55.25 cm)Width: 29.75 in (75.57 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Fine condition, never been framed or mounted, pencil signed dedicated Printers Proof aside from the edition of 175, printers chop embossed on lower corner, from the master printers private collection.
  • Gallery Location:
    Union City, NJ
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU832310956652

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