Nicolas de Staël was a French painter of Russian origin known for his use of a thick impasto and his highly abstract landscape painting. He also worked with collage, illustration and textiles.
After suffering from depression, in the wake of a disappointing meeting with a disparaging art critic on March 16, 1955 he committed suicide. He leapt to his death from his eleventh story studio terrace, in Antibes. He was 41 years old.
In the US, his name is rarely cited as an influence. The first reason for his relative absence is simply bad timing. As Eliza Rathbone explained in 1997: “The very fact that [de Staël] began to achieve fame and recognition during the same years as the New York School was establishing its reputation on native soil, made a challenging environment for the work of an artist steeped in artistic culture and traditions of France.”The romantic image of the New York School remains powerful today. Struggling inwardly in a studio on 10th Street continues to capture the imagination of young American painters more than painting light and heat on a beach in Antibes.
PAINTINGS
IN MUSEUMS
On screen these compositions look small, but look at the size of these works in context.
Last month I posted 16 Ways to Reduce the Carbon Footprint in Your Art Studio and I invited artists to contribute their ideas. One artist was chosen for their answer, and has won a free class: Courtney Wooten pointed out that as artists, our greatest potential for impact can be made by using our art …
Most League artists are busy people. You’re not the only one! I want to make these projects challenging but still accessible. If you miss a day, no biggie. If you miss two, join the club. If you can only do one out of 30, you still did one! Last I checked, one is way better …
March 13, 2020 was the League’s first day in quarantine. March 20, 2020 was scheduled to be League artist Lucy Garnett’s ‘Notations’ show reception at Shoreline City Hall. It was half a lifetime of work, and the League-hosted celebration was canceled. Here’s a look back at one of her pieces that seems to have an …
[image_with_animation image_url=”8109″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] What does wax do for an oil painting? In addition to the protective qualities of a top coat, wax unifies the surface of a painting. Each pigment has varying degrees of matte and shiny, and each brush stroke can have slightly more, or slightly less medium, resulting in a …
Nicolas de Staël
Nicolas de Staël was a French painter of Russian origin known for his use of a thick impasto and his highly abstract landscape painting. He also worked with collage, illustration and textiles.
After suffering from depression, in the wake of a disappointing meeting with a disparaging art critic on March 16, 1955 he committed suicide. He leapt to his death from his eleventh story studio terrace, in Antibes. He was 41 years old.
In the US, his name is rarely cited as an influence. The first reason for his relative absence is simply bad timing. As Eliza Rathbone explained in 1997: “The very fact that [de Staël] began to achieve fame and recognition during the same years as the New York School was establishing its reputation on native soil, made a challenging environment for the work of an artist steeped in artistic culture and traditions of France.” The romantic image of the New York School remains powerful today. Struggling inwardly in a studio on 10th Street continues to capture the imagination of young American painters more than painting light and heat on a beach in Antibes.
PAINTINGS
On screen these compositions look small, but look at the size of these works in context.
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Most League artists are busy people. You’re not the only one! I want to make these projects challenging but still accessible. If you miss a day, no biggie. If you miss two, join the club. If you can only do one out of 30, you still did one! Last I checked, one is way better …
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[image_with_animation image_url=”8109″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] What does wax do for an oil painting? In addition to the protective qualities of a top coat, wax unifies the surface of a painting. Each pigment has varying degrees of matte and shiny, and each brush stroke can have slightly more, or slightly less medium, resulting in a …