Untitled 1960

This is an untitled print made by Karel Appel. It is a screenprint, a process by which ink is pushed through a mesh to create an image. You can see the rich, almost velvety texture of the ink on the paper. This gives the artwork a tactile quality, even though it is a two-dimensional image. Screenprinting is a commercial technique, often used for posters and graphic design. It's a process that allows for relatively quick and inexpensive reproduction of images, and it was embraced by artists like Appel for its bold, graphic aesthetic. Appel was part of the COBRA group, known for their spontaneous and expressive approach to artmaking. Screenprinting, with its bold colours and graphic quality, suited this artistic impulse perfectly. It allowed Appel to quickly translate his energetic and gestural style into a repeatable form. Understanding the process helps us see how the work's material presence—the ink, the paper, the graphic quality—is central to its meaning.