Karel Appel Barber barbar

Karel Appel (1921–2006) was one of the most compelling painters of the 20th century – an artist whose raw energy, courage, and uncompromising creative force left a lasting impression on the international art scene.

The son of a barber in Amsterdam, he grew up in modest circumstances yet found his way to art at an early age. His wild, spontaneous brushstrokes and daring use of colour soon became the hallmarks of a style that provoked both outrage and admiration.

Appel co-founded the international Cobra movement which, after the Second World War, brought together artists from Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium in a shared spirit of optimism and yearning for freedom. For Appel, painting became a physical act – a performance in which the body painted as much as the brush, earning him the epithet the Barbarian. His large-scale canvases possess an explosive vitality that continues to confront and envelop the viewer.

'Karel Appel – Barber Barbar' presents the most comprehensive exhibition of Appel’s works ever shown in Denmark. It offers a chance to experience the full breadth and power of his oeuvre. Here we are invited into a space where Appel’s energy and uncompromising spirit still resonate. It is an encounter with an artist who insisted on painting the world as he felt it – raw, immediate, and brimming with life.