Laughing Frog and His Friends in the Golden Age

Christiaan Karel Appel

This eleven color, 6 foot wide screenprint, "Laughing Frog and His Friends in the Golden Age" was originally published and printed by Editions Press in San Francisco in an edition of 120 on a sheet of paper with gold mylar foil collaged to the surface. As the paper moved due to changes in the relative humidity the foil began to detach, creating bubbled areas and ink loss in some impressions. The edition was withdrawn and recalled and another edition of 50 was printed without the foil, such as this impression.

Karel Appel was one of the founders of the important COBRA movement in Europe. COBRA, which was coined from the initials of the members' home cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels (Br), Amsterdam (A). was based on spontaneity and experiment, and the members drew their inspiration in particular from children’s drawings, from primitive art forms and from the work of Paul Klee and Joan Miró.

Christiaan Karel Appel was born in Amsterdam, Holland on April 25th, 1921. As a teenager, Appel apprenticed at his father's barber shop and it wasn't until his uncle, Karel Chevalier, gave him a box of oil paints that he began to pursue art at age 15. He first studied with his uncle but before long the elder Karel realized his nephew had surpassed him. He took Appel to his own painting instructor, Jozef Verheijen, to train. Around this time Appel also created his first sculpture, though it would be some time before he returned to the medium. In 1939 Appel left his family home and moved into his own studio, rooming with the anarchist Henk Eikeboom.

As it became increasingly clear that Germany was aiming to occupy the Netherlands, Appel attempted to enter into the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Amsterdam in 1941, knowing a student status would allow him to stay out of the way of the Nazis despite his anarchistic leanings. His first attempt failed, and he began traveling throughout the countryside, sketching and keeping to himself. In 1942 he was finally accepted into the academy, where he studied Modernism and Surrealism as well as the poetry of Walt Whitman. His work from this time was greatly influenced by Picasso, Matisse, and Dubuffet, and he became close friends with the artist Corneille. In 1944, having completed of his studies, Appel no longer had the protected status of a student; his artwork and lifestyle make him a target of Nazi suspicion. He was accused of aiding Allied sympathizers, and he went into hiding.

In 1945 he returned to Amsterdam and two years later he visited Paris for the first time, where he was exposed to the work of Edouard Pignon, Jean Dubuffet, and Constant, whose works changed the course of Appel's style. After returning home, he began working on three dimensional works including reliefs and sculptures made of found objects. By 1948 he began to create a reputation for himself in the Netherlands and the collector Martin Visser invited Appel, Corneille, and Constant to show their works at the De Bijenkorf department store. Before long Appel began exhibiting regularly, and his painting "Sailor's Girl" was purchased by the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Along with Corneille and Constant, Appel founded the experimental group and magazine Reflex, which soon thereafter evolved into the CoBrA movement. It was in Paris, where he had an exhibition in 1949 and took up residence in 1950.

CoBrA dissolved in 1951 afer disagreements between the artists, and Appel began to associate with Abstract Expressionists including Jackson Pollack, Georges Mathieu, Sam Francis, and others. In 1953 James John Sweeney, then director of the Guggenheim museum, visited Appel's studio and purchased two of his paintings and selected his work for the Young European Painters exhibition later that year.

His frist trip to the United States took place in 1957 where he lived on Long Island for the summer. His exposure to American Abstract artists as well as jazz musicians and other luminaries once again changed the course of his work, and he began working on polychrome sculptures, stained-glass windows, and mural paintings using explosive color and line. This led to a commission by UNESCO to paint a mural on the wall of its Paris headquarters' restaurant.

He remained active until very near his death in Zurich on May 3, 2006.