January the 5th - Nicolas De Staël - Artist Birthday
- LaBelleEpoq
- Jan 5, 2023
- 3 min read
Nicolas De Staël
Russian, French
Born: January 5, 1914
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Died: March 16, 1955
Antibes, France
Art Movement: Art Informel, Abstract Expressionism
Nicolas de Staël was a Russian-born French painter widely considered one of the most important figures in the development of Abstract Expressionism in France. He was born in Saint Petersburg in 1914 to an aristocratic military family that fled to Poland during the Russian Revolution in 1919, where his parents died. Orphaned, Nicolas de Staël moved to Belgium with his sister in 1922 He studied decoration and design at the Brussels Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts and architecture at the Académie de St. Gilles. De Staël's early paintings were largely figurative, but he gradually shifted to a more abstract style influenced by the works of Kazimir Malevich and the Russian Suprematist movement.
After his studies in Belgium, de Staël travelled to Paris and then to Morocco, where he met his partner Jeannine Guillou. She gave birth to his daughter Anna in 1942.
Throughout his career, de Staël was known for his restless, itinerant lifestyle, and he lived and worked in a number of different countries. In addition to Russia, Belgium, and France, he also stayed in Italy and the United Kingdom. Despite this constant movement, de Staël was a prolific artist, creating a large number of paintings, prints, and collages in his relatively short career. He was strongly influenced by literature and music and often named his paintings after literary works or musical compositions.
De Staël's abstract paintings were characterised by their thick, impasto brushstrokes and expressive use of colour. He often used bright, bold colours in his paintings, which often have a chaotic, expressive quality. De Staël's works were highly emotional and often conveyed a sense of movement and energy.
For some period De Staël worked in the atelier with Fernand Léger, and naturally, artists such as Jean Arp, Sonia Delauney and Le Corbusier became a part of his circle encouraging his abstract style.
He was also influenced by the works of other European artists such as Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, whom he befriended in 1944. That same year his works were included in the Paris Salon d'Automne, and by 1945 his exhibitions brought him critical fame. But times were difficult, and his wife died in 1946 from an illness caused by malnutrition. Despite his successes, de Staël struggled with depression and anxiety throughout his life, and his work is often seen as reflecting this inner turmoil. After a disheartening meeting with an art critic, he committed suicide in 1995 at the age of 41.
Despite his early death, de Staël's work has had a lasting impact on the art world. His paintings are highly prized by collectors and are in the collections of major museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris. De Staël's legacy as one of the leading figures of French Abstract Expressionism.
One of his works sold at Christie's in 2019 for $22mln https://www.christies.com/features/Nicolas-de-Staels-Parc-des-Princes-10106-7.aspx
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