Nicolas de Staël

Georges Charensol, 'Nicolas de Staël' in La Revue des Deux Mondes, Paris, 1 April 1956, p. 540
Daniel Dobbels, de Staël, Paris 1994, pl. 4, illustrated in colour
Françoise de Stäel, Nicolas de Staël, Catalogue Raisonné de l'Œuvre Peint, Neuchâtel 1997, p. 179, no. 9, illustrated in colour

Moving to the non-occupied territory of the South of France in 1941 after active service with the Foreign Legion, it was in Nice that de Staël executed some of the most poignant paintings of his early period whose dramatic, gritty realism belie his miserable existence and tormented soul. In the absence of readily available artist’s materials, de Staël used whatever he found at his disposal, often using cardboard as a support as witnessed in Nature Morte à la Pipe.

The son of Russian aristocrats who had fled the revolution, de Staël was orphaned at an early age. This early acquired independence is arguably at the root of his much acclaimed freedom of execution, oscillating readily between abstract and figurative modes of expression.

In Nature Morte à la Pipe, an insistently figurative painting, one already senses the virtuosity of his facture and his deep engagement with his subject. The overriding importance given to form and composition in this work shifts between classical perspective and abstract prerogatives, presaging his mature abstract style that was soon to follow.