Karel Appel
1921–2006 · Painter, Printmaker
Christiaan Karel Appel was a Dutch painter, sculptor, and poet. He started painting at the age of fourteen and studied at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam in the 1940s. He was… (Wikipedia)
5 works by Karel Appel with an auction history (offered more than once) →
Record prices
TigerbirdVan Ham · €412,800≈ $439,013≈ £351,914Sign up to see
Waiting FaceBonhams · $318,000≈ £236,960≈ €274,162Sign up to see
UntitledLempertz · €281,250≈ $315,281≈ £254,546Sign up to see
Karel Appel’s highest prices recorded at auction, ranked in US dollars at each sale-date exchange rate and shown in the currency of the sale (with the buyer’s premium where the house publishes it).
561 results · page 14 of 15
- Têtes Volantes, 1958Unsold / did not meet reserveEst. €100,000–150,000
- Unsold / did not meet reserveEst. €800–1,200
- Unsold / did not meet reserveEst. MX$6,000–9,000
- Loving Birds #3, 1989Unsold / did not meet reserveEst. €50,000–60,000
- Sleepy Bird, 1979Unsold / did not meet reserveEst. €300–500
- Without title, 1979Unsold / did not meet reserveEst. €20,000–30,000
- Unsold / did not meet reserveEst. €1,500–2,500
- Sleepy Bird, 1979Unsold / did not meet reserveEst. €400–500
- Unsold / did not meet reserveEst. €50,000–70,000
- Unsold / did not meet reserveEst. €350–600
Also offered, result not published (120)
Lots by Karel Appel that were offered at auction where the house did not publish whether they sold. Not counted in any statistics.
Karel Appel paintings (87)Karel Appel oil paintings (56)Karel Appel acrylic paintings (16)Karel Appel mixed media (7)Karel Appel works on paper (84)Karel Appel gouaches (19)Karel Appel pastels (3)Karel Appel drawings (15)Karel Appel prints (331)Karel Appel lithographs (223)Karel Appel screenprints (68)Karel Appel woodcuts & linocuts (14)Karel Appel multiples (7)Karel Appel sculpture (5)
Karel Appel signature
372 catalogued lots by Karel Appel record a signature line. The most common placement is lower right (61% of lots that state a placement). Most often: signed.
Placement
Form
Signed "appel" lower center
— Dutch Masquerade, Phillips, May 21, 2026Signed 'appel' lower left
— The Entry, Phillips, Mar 29, 2026Signed "Appel" upper left
— Pink Reclining Nude, Phillips, Feb 28, 2026
About Karel Appel
Christiaan Karel Appel was a Dutch painter, sculptor, and poet. He started painting at the age of fourteen and studied at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam in the 1940s. He was one of the founders of the avant-garde movement CoBrA in 1948. He was also an avid sculptor and has had works featured in MoMA and other museums worldwide.
From Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
In museum collections
Wikimedia Commons · Public domainUntitled, 1963
International Sculpture Collection · Public domain
