Karel Appel, Works on paper 1940-2000

The Gemeentemuseum is holding this major retrospective of Karel Appel's works on paper to mark the artist's eightieth birthday, on 25 April. It includes an outstanding collection of items - 160 in all - ranging from the first small landscapes and self-portraits made in 1940 right through to recent studies of fantasy beings and huge female nudes.

At the heart of the exhibition is a unique group of drawings taken from Appel's private collection and inspired by the work of psychiatric patients. He saw this work in Paris in 1948 and was greatly impressed by its spontaneity and free handling of form and colour. He regards these drawings as the guideline for his later work. Appel wrote to Corneille in 1947, "My work is all-encompassing, you mustn't pigeonhole yourself". This retrospective of works on paper demonstrates the abiding truth of this statement.

Coinciding with this exhibition, the Stedelijk Museum is showing recent paintings by Karel Appel and the Cobra museum has a retrospective of Appel's sculpture.