Karel Appel

Dutch · 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)

Email alerts for new results and upcoming sales

Own a work by Karel Appel? Get a free auction estimate →

676lots offered1992–2026years recorded90%sold (500)$890Sign up free to seemedian price

Record prices

Show prices also in

TigerbirdVan Ham · Nov 2016€412,800≈ $439,013≈ £351,914Sign up to see
Waiting FaceBonhams · May 2026$318,000≈ £236,960≈ €274,162Sign up to see
UntitledLempertz · Jun 2020€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).

Average price

$12.8kSign up free to see

median $890free account

High

$439kSign up free to see

auction record in database

Lots sold

500

of 556 offered · 1992–2026

Sell-through

90%

sold ÷ offered

Price trend

Each dot is a sold lot (price realized incl. premium where published, converted to USD at the sale-date rate; log scale). Dashed line: yearly median.

5 lot(s) catalogued with a qualifier (e.g. “attributed to”, “after”, “circle of”) are listed in the results but excluded from these statistics.

120 lot(s) offered at auction whose result the house did not publish are listed under “Also offered” on the results tab and excluded from these statistics.

2 sold lot(s) are awaiting a USD exchange rate and are excluded from averages.

By medium

Medium	Offered	Sold	Sell-through	Average	Median	High
Paintings	87	79	91%	$56.8kSign up	$30.8kSign up	$439kSign up
Oil	56	50	89%	$78.7kSign up	$40.5kSign up	$439kSign up
Acrylic	16	14	88%	$19.6kSign up	$10.9kSign up	$62.5kSign up
Mixed media	7	7	100%	$30.5kSign up	$25kSign up	$73.5kSign up
Works on paper	84	72	86%	$17.1kSign up	$13.1kSign up	$78kSign up
Watercolor	1	1	100%	$36.5kSign up	$36.5kSign up	$36.5kSign up
Gouache	19	17	89%	$20.7kSign up	$20kSign up	$47.3kSign up
Pastel	3	2	67%	$7kSign up	$7kSign up	$8.1kSign up
Drawing	15	14	93%	$5.1kSign up	$5.7kSign up	$13.3kSign up
Prints & multiples	331	317	96%	$1.1kSign up	$623Sign up	$18.8kSign up
Etching	2	1	50%	$1.5kSign up	$1.5kSign up	$1.5kSign up
Aquatint	1	1	100%	$2.5kSign up	$2.5kSign up	$2.5kSign up
Lithograph	223	213	96%	$736Sign up	$600Sign up	$10.6kSign up
Screenprint	68	65	96%	$582Sign up	$559Sign up	$1.5kSign up
Woodcut / linocut	14	14	100%	$3.5kSign up	$1.8kSign up	$16.8kSign up
Print (other)	16	16	100%	$972Sign up	$531Sign up	$6kSign up
Multiple	7	7	100%	$10.5kSign up	$10kSign up	$18.8kSign up
Sculpture	5	5	100%	$5kSign up	$4.4kSign up	$10.6kSign up
Other	49	27	55%	$11.2kSign up	$1.6kSign up	$84.5kSign up

Medium classes are derived from the medium text as published by each house; “Other” includes lots whose medium wasn’t stated.

By year

Year	Offered	Sold	Median
2026	41	38	$554Sign up
2025	79	73	$762Sign up
2024	63	56	$630Sign up
2023	45	37	$786Sign up
2022	37	34	$800Sign up
2021	39	34	$669Sign up
2020	29	26	$1.2kSign up
2019	17	14	$4.4kSign up
2018	17	16	$4.7kSign up
2017	19	18	$1.4kSign up
2016	19	18	$5.3kSign up
2015	13	9	$836Sign up
2014	13	12	$7.2kSign up
2013	17	12	$1.6kSign up
2012	8	6	$413Sign up
2011	20	20	$6.1kSign up
2010	10	9	$1.5kSign up
2009	3	3	$8.1kSign up
2008	10	10	$1.1kSign up
2007	16	16	$20.3kSign up
2006	7	6	$29.7kSign up
2005	10	9	$3.5kSign up
2004	6	6	$1.3kSign up
2003	6	6	$712Sign up
2002	8	8	$410Sign up
2001	2	2	$524Sign up
1995	1	1	—Sign up
1992	1	1	—Sign up