James Lawrence Isherwood, Sicilian Landscape, oil on  Board

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Sicilian Lanscape - After De Stael

Oil on board, signed lower left - 'Isherwood after de Stael'.

 

Nicolas de Stael (1914-1955) was one of the most influential and celebrated European painters of the post-War period. In the course of a tragically brief career he became a leading figure of what is now called the School of Paris. Expanding on the tradition of artists including Henri Matisse and de Staël’s close friend Georges Braque, he forged his own unique and unparalleled style. His paintings are marked by their heavily impasto surface, their simplicity of composition and a bold but sophisticated use of color.

Nicolas de Staël was born into an aristocratic Russian family in 1914. Forced to emigrate in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, the family relocated to Brussels where de Staël later studied at the Académie Royal des Beaux-Arts. As a complement to his formal schooling, de Staël traveled throughout the Mediterranean region, and the landscape, light and colors of the bright southern climate remained a source of inspiration throughout his life.

De Staël’s career was brief but intense, spanning only about 15 years. He first began exhibiting in Europe in the 1940s. By the early 1950s, he was well-known in Europe and had begun to exhibit in New York, most notably at Knoedler & Co. and at the Paul Rosenberg Gallery. De Staël’s work is included in many museum collections in the US and Europe.