Nicolas de Stael Biography, Artworks
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STAEL, Nicolas de (1914-1955)
Born in St Petersburg of a well-to-do family which, after the Revolution, emigrated to Poland and settled at Ostrow near Poznan. There his father died in 1921 and his mother in 1922; he and his two sisters were then entrusted to the care of a friend of the family, who sent them to Brussels where an engineer, M. Fricero, became their guardian. From 1922 to 1930 he studied at the Jesuit College of Saint-Michel in Brussels, and in 1930-1931 at the Collège Cardinal Mercier at Braine-l'Alleud. Entered the class of M. van Haelen at the Académie des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, in 1932. Made several trips to Holland, where he was deeply impressed by Rembrandt, Vermeer and Seghers, and did his first watercolors. Commissioned to do a decorative painting in the royal palace at Laeken. Went to Paris where he saw works by Cézanne, Matisse, Soutine and Braque. Spent nearly the whole of 1934 traveling in Spain, drawing and sketching daily. After a visit to Italy he returned to Belgium in 1935 and fitted up a studio at Uccle, near Brussels. Long trip to Morocco in 1936, where he worked hard (but later destroyed all the pictures produced during this period). After a brief trip to Algeria in 1937 he lived for a while at Naples, then returned to Paris and attended Fernand Léger's art school. Rented a studio in the Rue du Cherche-Midi in 1938 and drew at the Louvre, copying Chardin in particular. Enlisted in the French Foreign Legion in 1939 and was sent to Tunisia. Discharged in 1940 he settled at Nice, then moved back to Paris in 1943, where Jeanne Bucher encouraged him and helped him through a trying period of great material difficulties, buying drawings and pictures. Met Braque and Lanskoy in 1944 and became a close friend of both. Took part in the Peintures Abstraites exhibition with Domela, Kandinsky, and Magnelli, organized by the Galerie L'Esquisse, where he also had a one-man show the same year. Participated in the Salon de Mai in 1945 and exhibited at the Jeanne Bucher Gallery. Took a studio in Montparnasse, then moved to a studio in the Rue Gauguet in 1947. Met an American dealer, Theodor Schempp, who liked his work and introduced it in the United States. His mainstay among the Paris dealers at this time was Jacques Dubourg. Exhibited in 1948 with Lanskoy, Braque and Laurens at the Couvent du Saulchoir, Etiolles, and also at Montevideo. Trip to Holland and Belgium in 1949. De Staël exhibition in New York in 1950, organized by Theodor Schempp. His work was increasingly appreciated in Paris, by public and critics alike, and George Duthuit devoted a monograph to him in 1950. Even the State bought one of his pictures. One-man show at the Galerie Jacques Dubourg, Paris, 1950. Made a long stay in London in 1951 and published woodcuts illustrating poems by René Char. Exhibited at the Matthiesen Gallery, London, in 1952. Met the sculptor Vitullo, who initiated him into sculpture, but he executed only one work. Designed tapestries for the Aubusson manufactory. Dreamed of producing a ballet with Char and Lecuire, with music by Stravinsky, but the project was never realized. After a long trip to Italy in 1953 ( Florence, Ravenna, Milan, Venice), he settled in the South of France. One-man shows at the Knoedler Gallery, New York ( 1953), and the Galerie Jacques Dubourg, Paris ( 1954). After a trip to Sicily he bought a château at Manerbes and made his home there. Did a series of etchings in 1954 for the Ballets-Minute of Lecuire. Traveled extensively along the French coast of the North Sea, lived for a time at Antibes on the Riviera, then made a trip to Spain. Jacques Dubourg organized one-man shows in 1955 in his Paris gallery and at the Musée d' Antibes. These two exhibitions called for an immense amount of work on the painter's part. Busy with drawings and book illustrations. Committed suicide at Antibes, March 16, 1955.
Bibliography:
G. Duthuit, Nicolas de Staël, Paris 1950. -- R. V. Gindertael , Nicolas de Staël, Paris 1951. -- P. Lecuire, Voir Nicolas de Staël, Paris 1953. -- R. Cogniat, catalogue preface, Pittori d'Oggi, Francia-Italia, Turin 1955, -- C. Zervos, Nicolas de Staël, in Cahiers d'Art, Paris 1955. -- R. V. Gindertael, Nicolas de Staël, in Cimaise, June 1955. -- H. Wescher, De Staël, in Cimaise, April 1956. -- J. Cassou, Preface, De Staël Exhibition, Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris 1956. -- D. Cooper, Nicolas de Staël: In Memoriam, in The Burlington Magazine, May 1956. -- F. Meyer, Preface, De Staël Exhibition, Kunsthalle, Bern 1957. -- D. Cooper, Preface to the Exhibition at the Musée Réattu, Arles 1958. -- A. Tudal, De Staël, Editions du Musée de Poche, Paris 1958. -- R. Guttuso, Nicolas de Staël, in II Contemporaneo, October-November 1958. -- D. Sutton , Nicolas de Staël, London-New York 1959. -- W. Schmalenbach, Preface to the De Staël Exhibition at Documenta II, Kassel 1959. -- F. Russoli, Percorso di Nicolas de Staël, and L. Landini, Coscienza interiore e razionalità nell'opera di Nicolas de Staël, Exhibition Catalogue, Museo Civico d'Arte Moderna, Turin 1960.
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