The following description has been prepared entirely by the current owner, Roberts S. Fastov, Esq., and, at the collector’s request, has not been edited by Sloans & Kenyon

 

 

 

 

Note 1): Per Galleries Maurice Sternberg:Dutch-born Karel Appel was part of the original COBRA group (Copenhagen, Brussels, Amsterdam) whose works were characterized by bold expressionist forms and raw, intense colors. From 1940 to 1943 Appel studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam. By 1951, when he painted a mural for the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, he had earned an important place in the art world. His sculpture, paintings, and prints, thickly layered with color, have a childlike quality about them, but new possibilities present themselves at each viewing.

He was awarded the UNESCO Prize at the 27th International Biennale in Venice, and the first prize at the Guggenheim International Exhibition in New York in 1960. He has exhibited in galleries worldwide and is represented in the collections of major museums in the United States, Canada, England, France, and Holland.

 

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

Palais des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles

Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

Guggenheim Museum New York

 

SELECTED AWARDS

He received the UNESCO Prize at the Venice Biennale of 1954

Graphics prize at the Ljubljana Biennial in Yugoslavia

International Prize for Painting at the Săo Paulo Bienal

John Solomon Guggenheim Fellowship Award - New York, USA”

 

Note 2) The highest price paid at auction for an Appel painting was $1,187,740 (1st painting below), very recently on 12/0 4/2012. Over the years, many Appel paintings of this size and character have brought $50,000 and more and a significant number which have exceeded $100,000. Only a handful of Appel clown paintings have sold at auction. Most of the Appel sales depicted and prices obtained are relatively old results. This Appel auction painting is a very colorful and delightful  depiction of a clown engaged in the height of frivolous clown behavior, which is infinitely more esthetically pleasing than each of the following 3 Appel auction records portraying clowns, which brought from $21,338  (6th painting below) to $59,436 (2nd painting below).The most directly analogous clown painting (3rd painting below), brought $33,000 in 1990. It  depicts, just like the Appel auction painting, a clown facing the viewer directly However, this 1968 painting of a Clown has  a  grim, dour-faced, almost threatening look and is barely discernible as being a clown, standing upright with no clown hat or action suggesting he is a clown. In stark contrast, the Appel auction painting, c. 1972,  depicts a mirthful, joyous and happy circus clown, colorfully dressed, holding two flowers in his mouth, while inverted and balancing upside down on one hand on a ball and juggling two different, multi-colored balls on his feet, with a broad smile, having red clown makeup on his face and wearing a cute clown hat. The foregoing biographical information regarding Appel and the above analysis of the Appel auction records and the records set forth below warrant a conclusion that the presale estimate of $20,000-$50,000 is reasonable and justifiable.

 

Christie's Paris - Two birds and a Flower

Title/Subject: Two Birds And A Flower, 1951 Signed and dated. Oil on canvas.  45.08 in. x 47.24 in. sold for $1,187,740 on 12/03/2012 - 12/04/2012 at Christie’s Paris, France

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.artnet.com/WebServices/picture.aspx?date=20010208&catalog=13713&gallery=111548&lot=00278&filetype=1

Title/Subject: The King And The Clown, 1962 Signed. Oil on canvas. 45.1  in. x  57.5 in. sold for $59,436 on 2/08/2001 at Sotheby’s, London

http://imgprivate.artprice.com/img/lot/NzE0MDAwMDY1MDYxODMxOC0=/MjQxNDIwOTk4MDk3MzI5Mzg0LQ==?idlotimage=NzE0MDAwMDI2OTUyNDM4NDEt&f=350 

Title/Subject: Clown, 1968 Signed. Acrylic on paper on canvas. Oil on canvas. 30 3/4  in. x  22. ˝ in. sold for $33,000 on 2/27/1990 at Sotheby’s, NY

1

Title/Subject: Seleil Inca, from the Circus Series Signed. mixed media. 29 7/8 in. x 22 in.. sold for $25,561 on 2/09/2007 at Christie’s London

1 

Title/Subject: Teddy Bear, Circus Series (1977) Signed. Acrylic on canvas.  29 7/8 in. x 22  in. sold for $21,927 on 12/03/2002 at Christie’s Amsterdam, Holland

1 

Title/Subject: Bird clown (from Circus series), 1978 Signed. Acrylic on wood. 32.3 in. x 32.3 in. sold for $21,338  on 4/29/2008 at Tajan, Paris, France