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.
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
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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
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
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
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
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