DIE GALERIE - Spotlight on CoBrA founding members

Alongside the protagonist of our current exhibition, Belgian painter Pierre Alechinsky, 'Spotlight' will introduce you to the beginnings of the CoBrA group and some of its co-founders. On the 8th of November 1948, Dutch artists Karel Appel, Corneille, Constant, Danish painter Asger Jorn and Belgian writers Christian Dotremont and Joseph Noiret came together at the Café Notre-Dame in Paris to form the artists' association CoBrA. The unusual name, reminiscent of the poisonous snake of the same name, is composed of the first letters of the cities Copenhagen, Brussels, and Amsterdam — the places of origin of the founding members. Other artists such as Pierre Alechinsky, Lucebert, Karl-Otto Götz, and Theo Wolvecamp soon joined the movement. In a time marked by the horrors of World War II, the group sought a new visual language: spontaneous, experimental, original – free from academic and ideological constraints. Three important exhibitions took place before the group disbanded in 1951: in Brussels and Amsterdam in 1949, and the last one in Liège in 1951.

Three of the founding members – Karel Appel, Corneille, and Constant – already knew each other before CoBrA was founded. Together, they launched the Dutch Group for Experimental Art in 1948. All three painters pursued an expressive art that ranged between abstraction and figuration, each with their own unique characteristics. Constant Nieuwenhuys, better known by his first name, was born in Amsterdam in 1920. His art was initially figurative, but over time he turned increasingly to abstraction. Folk art and children's art play a decisive role in his work and symbolize a hopeful new beginning after the destruction of World War II. Karel Appel (1921), also born in Amsterdam, is, alongside Asger Jorn, the leading representative of CoBrA's eruptive, expressive style of painting. The influence of primitive art and children's drawings is also particularly significant in his work. With bright colors and dynamic brushstrokes, he creates images full of emotion and unbridled power.
Cornelis van Beverloo, better known as Corneille, was born in Liège in 1922 to Dutch parents, but grew up in Amsterdam. His painting style is more restrained and controlled than that of his fellow painters; his artistic language is dreamlike and visionary. His travels to Africa played an important role in his oeuvre, inspiring him to paint abstract landscapes and drawing on the primitive folk art of the continent.
Discover the works of these and other CoBrA artists in our exhibition Pierre Alechinsky and his artist friends until September 10, 2025 

Picture Karel Appel, Untitled, 1960, Oil on canvas, 81 x 116 cm