Karel APPEL (1921-2006)

Clown with Diamond Eyes, 1980

18ct gold pendant with a hinged suspension loop and brooch fittings, decorated in bright enamel colours against a red background with a clown's face inset with diamond eyes. Designed by Karel Appel and commissioned in an edition of ten by Henk van der Vet, Appel's silkscreen printer, from the Amsterdam diamond house Holshuijsen Stoeltie.

Marks: signed appel in the enamel to the front, and scratched on the reverse 1/10, appel 1980, and with Dutch 18ct gold hallmarks

Dimensions: D. of medallion 7.3 cm; L. of chain 100 cm

Literature: Martine Newby Haspeslagh, Art to Wear. Jewellery by Post-War Painters and Sculptors, Didier Ltd, London 2012, p. 7. no. 2

The design on this pendant/brooch is similar to that on Appel's silkscreen Kinder Clown that Henk van der Ver had printed in 1977. The following year, saw the publication of Appel's Circus, a three-volume set comprising 30 coloured and embossed wood prints showing animals and performers depicted in his typical style of solid blocks of colours that capture the exuberance of the circus. As such this pendant and all the prints reflects Appel's central theme of expressing the inner child found in man.