An artists’movement (from the abbreviation for Copenhagen, Brussels, and Amsterdam) founded in 1948 in Paris. Three Dutch painters participated: Karel Appel (1921–2006), Corneille (pseudo nym of Cornelis Guillaume van Beverloo) (1922– ), and Constant (professional name of Constant A. Nieuwenhuys) (1920–2005). The Cobra school propagated a spontaneous, experimental mode of painting inspired by the naivete of children’s drawings and popular art. It was a reaction against the theories and aestheticism of surreal ism. The group published a review, Cobra, and a series of booklets. The Cobra Museum of Modern Art—designed by architect Wim Ger hard Quist (1930– )—is located in Amstelveen (Northern Holland).
Historical Dictionary of the Netherlands. EdwART. 2012.