The painter and graphic artist Karel Arkema, who was born in Appingedam, was trained as a house painter but decided at a young age to go in the artistic direction. He enrolled at the Minerva Academy in Groningen and in later years also became a member of De Groninger Ploeg. Although Arkema developed a style that was entirely his own, De Ploeg's expressionism and freedom of use of colour can be found in his landscapes. Arkema also made abstract work and painted attractive cityscapes of Groningen en Appingedam.