Tantrika I and Tantrika II are two portfolios created by Karel Appel in collaboration with the Scottish poet Kenneth White, published in Paris in the 1980s by Éditions F.B..
Each set includes five original color lithographs and poetic texts by Kenneth White. The editions are limited to approximately 75 copies.
The title *Tantrika* refers to the idea of energy, the flow of vital forces, and the connection between humanity, nature, and the cosmos. This vision aligns with Kenneth White’s geopoetic thought, which seeks to reconnect human beings to the great outdoors, to landscapes, and to the fundamental rhythms of the world.
For Appel, this series marks a phase of maturity. The explosive energy inherited from Cobra remains present, but it is organized into more open compositions where birds, faces, hybrid creatures, and organic forms bathed in intense colors seem to float.
The historical significance of these portfolios lies in the encounter between two major figures: Karel Appel, heir to Cobra, and Kenneth White, founder of geopoetics. Together, they produced a body of work in which painting and poetry pursue the same goal: to convey the profound forces that permeate all living things.
For a collector, *Tantrika I* and *II* rank among the most intellectually ambitious collaborations in Appel’s graphic oeuvre. They occupy a more niche place than his individual lithographs, yet possess a particularly rich cultural and symbolic depth.
