Nicolas de Staël by Denise Colomb. Rare vintage print (1954) signed.

Nicolas de Staël (1914.1955)

Original photograph by Denise Colomb.

Titled, dated and signed in pencil by the artist on the back:

Nicolas de Staël – 1954 – Paris rue Gauguet – Denise Colomb.

_________________________________________

Extraordinary vintage silver gelatin print (1954) depicting the artist standing in his studio on rue Gauguet in Paris, a few months before his tragic death.

Size 21 x 29.50 cm. Condition almost perfect.

Exhausted by the extreme tension that painting provoked in him, and heartbroken by the unrequited love of Jeanne Mathieu, Nicolas de Staël took his own life on March 16, 1955, by jumping from the terrace of his home in Antibes. He left three letters: one to his friend Jacques Dubourg: “I don’t have the strength to finish my paintings. Thank you for everything you have done for me. From the bottom of my heart. Nicolas.”; one to Jean Bauret: “  Dear Jean, if you have the time, would you be so kind as to say, in the event that any exhibition of my paintings is organized, what needs to be done to ensure they are seen? Thank you for everything. ”; and a final letter to his daughter, Anne de Staël, then 13 years old.

Denise Colomb wrote about this session: “ It was the most powerful encounter of my career. Memories made even more poignant after the tragedy, memories that have remained vivid. It was both a confrontation and a complicity. He unfurled a large canvas, of which I only saw the frame, and which I suspect was one of his famous paintings with bottles. The effort had tired him. I took a picture of de Staël with his arms hanging loosely, as if he were exhausted. Then, he crossed his arms, defied me, defied the world. I held my photograph. I shot him from a low angle to accentuate his tall figure. What an emotional experience.”