The work of the CoBrA group of artists became synonymous with a powerful Expressionist current in art, embracing both figurative and abstract tendencies, and this blossomed in the work of Appel even after the short-lived movement disbanded in 1951. His paintings bring together visions of naiveté and aggression, enlivened with scintillating colour. As Eleanor Flomenhaft writes, "In Cobra [Appel] was liberated at last. By the time the group dispersed, his canvases exploded with unleashed vitality. In heavy impasto and brilliant colours Appel conjured up confused beasts deceptively innocent, ill-proportioned cats, strange birds, pathetic personages." (Eleanor Flomenhaft, The Roots and Development of Cobra Art, New York, 1985, p. 76) In this particular example, dated 1953, Appel attacks the canvas, creating the image of a grimacing face with bold, gestural strokes of colour. He painted a number of works where the canvas is dominated by these square-faced, wide-eyed masks, clearly inspired by the carved faces of primitive cultures and the drawings of children that the CoBrA artists had been so fascinated by. There are also traces of the primordial imagery of Dubuffet's Art Brut paintings which Appel had seen in Paris.
The manner in which Appel built up the thick layers of impasto in these works demonstrate his clear involvement with his materials which became paramount in later years. He declared himself above all a colourist, using pure and mixed colours to make such paintings appear as free and instinctive as possible.