// Putting Green Kiss by Karel Appel is a vibrant silkscreen print from 1978, featuring Appel's distinctive expressionist style. The artwork presents two abstracted, colorful faces—one red and one yellow—entwined in a close, almost playful embrace, set against a bold green background. Appel's energetic line work and vivid colors create a sense of dynamic movement, while the exaggerated facial features give the figures a whimsical, almost childlike quality. The thick black outlines and bright primary colors are typical of Appel’s expressive and emotive approach, inviting viewers to explore themes of connection, affection, and joy in a simplified, symbolic form.
Karel Appel (Netherlands, 1921–2006) was a co-founder of the CoBrA movement, known for his expressive, colorful paintings and sculptures. Inspired by childlike spontaneity and raw emotion, Appel used bold brushstrokes and vibrant colors to challenge conventional art forms. His works, celebrated worldwide, reflect his belief in the primal power of creativity and imagination.
Silkscreen Silkscreen is a printmaking method that uses a screen made of silk or other mesh fabric. The screen is treated with a substance that blocks ink in certain areas, allowing ink to pass through only in the desired sections. Each color in the print requires a separate screen.
// Putting Green Kiss by Karel Appel is a vibrant silkscreen print from 1978, featuring Appel's distinctive expressionist style. The artwork presents two abstracted, colorful faces—one red and one yellow—entwined in a close, almost playful embrace, set against a bold green background. Appel's energetic line work and vivid colors create a sense of dynamic movement, while the exaggerated facial features give the figures a whimsical, almost childlike quality. The thick black outlines and bright primary colors are typical of Appel’s expressive and emotive approach, inviting viewers to explore themes of connection, affection, and joy in a simplified, symbolic form.
Karel Appel (Netherlands, 1921–2006) was a co-founder of the CoBrA movement, known for his expressive, colorful paintings and sculptures. Inspired by childlike spontaneity and raw emotion, Appel used bold brushstrokes and vibrant colors to challenge conventional art forms. His works, celebrated worldwide, reflect his belief in the primal power of creativity and imagination.
Karel Appel studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam. His first solo exhibition took place in 1946 in Groningen. In the years following the end of World War Two he developed his own unique style of art, using found objects and pieces of timber in assemblages and other artworks. His earliest themes were associated with imagery of childhood, often featuring grotesque humans, monsters and animal forms. He was one of the founders of the Dutch Experimental Group in 1948, along with Guillaume Corneille and Constant Nieuwenhuys. All three artists left Amsterdam and moved to Paris, where they joined with Belgian and Danish artists to form the Cobra international art group.
Gestural art is a term that describes painting with freely sweeping brushstrokes. The primary goal of gestural art is to allow the artist to physically express emotional impulses. The varied, yet expressive paint marks are intended to convey the artist's inner thoughts and emotions, which viewers are believed to understand through the dynamic and spontaneous application of paint.