Karel Appel was a painter born on April 25, 1921 in Amsterdam, Holland; his father was a barber. He studied at the Royal Academy in Amsterdam in 1940-43. Appel sought to develop an impulsive formal language based on life, in reaction to geometric academicism. He even founded with others an experimental group. In Paris in 1949, he focused on mastering creative power and did canvases that "look like they were done in a rage". (Schatz) An action painter, Appel gives full rein to his violent expressionism in numerous mural compositions and in stained glass windows.

In 1958, Appel established residence in Paris, and in 1959 he came to New York, where he now spends half the year. He won the UNE...