Baron Nicolas de Staël

Born: 1914, St Petersburg
Died: 1955, Antibes (France)

Painter, graphic artist, applied artist, illustrator. Born in St Petersburg in the family of Baron Vladimir Staël von Holstein and his second wife Lyubov Berednikova (1914). Studied at the Royal Arts Academy in Brussels and the Saint-Gilles Arts Academy (1932–35) and under Fernand Léger at the Free Academy in Paris (1938–40). Influenced by Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, Georges Braque and Chaïm Soutine. Experimented with colour and form, combining abstract painting with the depiction of real objects (early 1940s) and moving to a purely abstract approach (1944). Awarded French citizenship (1948). Returned to objective painting of landscapes, still-lifes and nudes (from 1952). Designed carpets in the form of collages and illustrated books of poetry. Signed a contract with New York art dealer L. Rosenberg (1953). Died in Antibes (1955). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1930s). Contributed to joint exhibitions with A. Ostrat, R. Lukin (1936), Wassily Kandinsky, T. Domel (1944), Salon d’Automne (1944, 1946, 1951, 1952), May (1945–55), Europe: New Generation (New York, 1952), Contemporary French Art in Toronto (1949), Copenhagen (1950), New York (1950), Washington (1951), Zurich (1952), international exhibition in Venice (1954) and one-man shows in Paris (1945, 1950, 1951, 1954), New York (1951, 1953–55), London (1952) and Antibes (1955).

Random articles