Nicolas de Staël retrospective at Musée d'Art Moderne in Paris

The Musée d'Art Moderne in Paris is hosting a major retrospective of Nicolas de Staël, curated by Charlotte Barat-Mabille and Pierre Wat. The exhibition features 200 works, including rarely displayed paintings, notebooks, and drawings, arranged chronologically. Among the highlights is 'Parc des Princes,' which sold at Christie's in 2019 for a record €20 million. De Staël, born in Saint Petersburg in 1914, grew up in Poland and studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels from 1932 to 1936. He traveled extensively through Italy, Algeria, Spain, Morocco, and southern France, influences visible in his use of light. His later work moved toward abstraction and figuration, influenced by Georges Braque. De Staël died by suicide in Antibes in 1955 at age 39. Barat-Mabille notes that unlike van Gogh or Pollock, no clear reason explains his death, which turned him into a legend.