Nicolas de Staël, Baron Nikolai Vladimirovich Staël von Holstein in Russian, was born on December 23, 1913, and died on March 16, 1955.

In September 1939, he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion. On January 19, 1940, he was assigned to the depot of the foreign regiments in Sidi-Bel-Abbès, Algeria, and demobilized on September 19 of the same year.

The artistic career of this unique artist spanned fifteen years, from the end of his service in the Legion until his death by suicide. During these years, he created more than a thousand canvases influenced by Cézanne, Matisse, Van Gogh, Braque, Soutine, as well as the Dutch masters Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Seghers.

Nicolas de Staël was a tireless worker who destroyed as many works as he created… Thus, in his frenzy to paint, all his canvases were executed nervously, on a knife's edge, like the last paintings of Vincent Van Gogh, whom he joined in suicide.

Nicolas de Staël: an essential figure in the French art scene, little known to the general public.

NB: https://youtu.be/VjoR_AkElkY?si=M2esrzVssUmett