Ghost with mask
1952
Olio su tela (116x89 cm)
Private collection
Private collection
*******
A not easily recognizable figure watches us, grinding his teeth demonicly.
Fat, broad and very dense brushstrokes of color create a harsh and decidedly brutal image. In the background you can hear an echo of the boyish and humorous drawings.
For Appel, applying color directly to the canvas is a liberating, almost sensual experience.
Design matters very little; what the painter is looking for is the energy that is released from real tears of violent colors. The primitive and disturbing subjects are not intellectually elaborated but they are decidedly energetic.
This work is perhaps one of the most representative of the Cobra movement. Born in 1948 from a heterogeneous group of artists from Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam. The movement opposed the abstractionism that had increasingly taken hold in the post-war period; this kind of art was seen as a lifeless and too passive manifestation.
This new brutal and strong art seeks inspiration in childhood drawings and mythological legends, which have always accompanied the evolution of the human being throughout history.
Comparing artists: Baselitz, Dubuffet, De Kooning, Pollock
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