Exhibition: Appel & Friends

Starting the 24th of April at Gallery Delaive, Amsterdam

In honour of the 100th birthyear of Karel Appel (25 April 1921 – 3 May 2006) Gallery Delaive presents with pleasure the exhibition: Appel & Friends. On view is original work on canvas and paper by Karel Appel, Walasse Ting and Sam Francis.

Karel Appel moved to Paris (then the European hub for the arts) in 1950. In Paris he meets artists from all over the world, including the Chinese artist Walasse Ting and the American Sam Francis. The artists influence and inspire each other and they form close friendships. In Paris they live a poor but bohemian life.

In 1957 Appel travels to New York, and arrives in the middle of a vibrant art scene, with the rise of Pop Art and the American Abstract Expressionism. He paints a series of portraits of famous jazz musicians in the studio of his friend Sam Francis. Walasse Ting also moves to New York in 1958 and together with Sam Francis develops the idea for a book that should capture the zeitgeist of the visual arts: ‘One Cent Life’. The book finally appears in 1964 and includes 68 color lithographs of the various artist friends, including, besides Ting and Francis, Karel Appel, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and many others.

After many years of living in New York, as of 1989 Ting starts to divide his time between New York and Amsterdam and is re-united with his good friend Karel Appel. On two occasions they paint together in a studio at the Weteringcircuit in Amsterdam, arranged by Gallery Delaive.

Appel & Friends shows a selection of work by Karel Appel, together with works by Walasse Ting and Sam Francis.