The Art Emporium, Vancouver
Private Collection, Montreal
Originally hailing from Amsterdam, Karel Appel was inspired by the work of Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and later Jean Dubuffet. Appel began painting at the age of fourteen. The artist was a member of the Nederlandse Experimentele Groep and established the CoBrA Group with fellow painters including Constant Nieuwenhuys and Guillaume Cornelis Beverloo. The movement gained notoriety for its forceful, expressive compositions informed by folk and children’s artwork. The work of Joan Miro and Paul Klee also served as inspiration.
The artist’s first solo exhibition was held at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels in 1953. Appel’s work was renowned internationally and featured in many group and solo exhibitions at esteemed museums and galleries worldwide including the Tate, MoMA and many others. Appel remains the most renowned Dutch artist of the 20th century with a career that spanned over 60 years.
“Untitled (A Boy and his Dog)” features all the hallmarks of Appel’s work. The dense layers of colourful pigment are applied in bold brushstrokes. The semiabstract composition retains the crude quality reminiscent of children’s drawings. The subject matter is a traditional portrait of a boy and his dog, but the treatment is wholly experimental and animalistic. The picture presents painting in its purest and idealistic form.
