Internationally renowned Dutch painter Karel Appel has died at his home in Zurich, Switzerland, at age 85.
The painter who specialized in the postwar European art movement called Cobra, died Wednesday, The New York Times reported Tuesday. No cause of death was given by the Karel Appel Foundation in the Netherlands.
Appel was one of the founders of the movement, Reflex, in 1948 in Paris. The name eventually was changed to Cobra, an acronym for Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam, the home cities of its founders.
The Cobra movement only lasted through the 1950s, but it is credited with
rejuvenating Dutch modern art in the postwar period, the Times said.
Appel's best known work involved saturated color and thick, sweeping strokes. He liked using red in his his distorted images and grimacing faces.
He began sculpturing in later years using wood, rigid polyester and aluminum.
Major museums around the world have hosted Appel exhibits including New York's Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Tate Gallery in London.
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