Square Man, Karel Appel, 1951
oil on canvas, h 120.5cm × w 118cm × d 4cm
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© Karel Appel Foundation/Pictoright
Cobra Group artists, like Karel Appel, were looking for a new way of painting after the Second World War and spontaneity was the key word. Appel tested the physical limits of the canvas while painting: this man just barely fits in the almost square surface. It is unclear whether he is impertinently horning in, or walking towards us, stripped of his clothes by some terrible event.
