Karel Appel (Amsterdam 1921- Zürich 2006) was a cofounder of the influential art collective COBRA (CoBrA group 1948-1951). Karel Appel became famous above all for his credo “I just mess around at it.” Appel attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Amsterdam (1940 -1943). Appel’s style is characterized by thick layering of pigment, violent brushwork, and a crude, reductive figuration.

COBRA (or CoBrA) was a European avant-garde movement active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined from the initials of the members’ home cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels (Br), Amsterdam (A).

Well-known members were Karel Appel (Dutch 1921-2006) , Lucebert (Dutch 1924-1994), Eugène Brands (Dutch 1913-2002) , Asger Jorn (Denmark 1914-1973), Christian Dotremont (Dutch 1922-1979), REINHOUD (Belgium1934-2007), Constant (Dutch1920 – 2005), Corneille (Belgium1922-2010), Pierre Alechinsky (Belgium 1927) and Jacques Doucet (French 1924-1994).

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