Karel Appel

Documentary about the work and the unconventional approach of the painter Karel Appel. The film shows him flinging vast amounts of paint onto the canvas, resulting in dynamic paintings showing an overful, raging, run-away world. In 1962 awarded with a Golden Bear at the Berlinale. (filmcommission.nl)

A brief look into the work of the COBRA art movement with footage of Dotremont, Appel, Heerup, Jorn among others.

As part of the celebrations for 100 years of Amsterdam’s Vondelpark in 1965, the Vondelpark was transformed into a massive sculpture garden under the direction of Stedelijk Museum director Sandberg. 25 epic artworks by well-known artists such as Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, Shinkichi Tajiri and Jean Tinguely were placed in the park. Karel Appel was also represented, by a gigantic elm tree trunk brightly painted in Appel’s characteristic manner.

In 1960, Utrecht University took over the Studio for Electronic Music from Philips. In this studio in Utrecht, composers and artists worked on their own compositions. In 1961, Jan Vrijman made a film about Karel Appel, De werkelijkheid van Karel Appel, and Appel himself made a musical composition for this film in the studio in Utrecht. Van der Elsken films and photographs Appel during the composition of his Musique Barbare, as well as recording conversations on tape; the film is in fact a kind of collage of film, photographs and sound. As well as an exceptional record of Karel Appel’s working process, this film is a unique documentation of the studio and therefore a significant piece of Dutch musical history.

The Queen of the Night enlists a handsome prince named Tamino to rescue her beautiful kidnapped daughter, Princess Pamina. Aided by the lovelorn bird hunter Papageno and a magical flute that holds the power to change the hearts of men, young Tamino embarks on a quest for true love, leading to the evil Sarastro's temple where Pamina is held captive. The Pierre Audi production of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte was recorded live at the 2006 Salzburger Festpiele.

Documentary about the work and the unconventional approach of the painter Karel Appel. The film shows him flinging vast amounts of paint onto the canvas, resulting in dynamic paintings showing an overful, raging, run-away world. In 1962 awarded with a Golden Bear at the Berlinale. (filmcommission.nl)

To his guests – artists, scientists, writers, philosophers and musicians – Wim Kayzer in Of Beauty and Consolation asks the philosophical question: What makes this life worth living?