Questioning Children 1949

Karel Appel made this painting out of wood and oil paint. It’s all bright yellow and then chunks of painted wood stacked on top like an image coming out of the surface. Imagine Appel in his studio, surrounded by bits of wood, tubes of paint, and the ghosts of a hundred half-finished ideas. He must have picked up each piece, felt its weight, considered its shape, and then, bam! Smashed it into this composition. There’s the clunky, awkward robot-like figures looming in the frame. I mean, look at how thick the paint is, like he's attacking the wood with color. There’s something raw and unpolished about the whole thing, and the colors are so vivid. Appel's really not trying to be subtle. This reminds me of Dubuffet, maybe some Guston too. It feels like Appel's saying, “Here’s my world, take it or leave it.” And, isn’t that what we’re all doing as painters, really?