Nicolas DE STAEL (1914-1955) Lot n° 43

Les Footballeurs, Parc des princes, 1952 Collage on paper. Signed, dated and dedicated lower right. Signed, dated and dedicated lower right. H_23 cm W_17 cm Provenance : - offered by the artist to Lord Basil Amulree in 1953 - New Art Center, London (label on the back) - Galerie Pierre-Jean Meurisse, Toulouse (label on the back) - acquired from this gallery by the parents of the current owner in 1987 - remained in the family since - private collection A certificate of authenticity from Francoise de Stael dated October 12, 1987 will be given to the buyer "It must sound, sound, sound, always truer, more false, strangely. Rhythm, violence, sensuality. Lightning bolts cross space. Colours blaze in the greys, blacks, whites. Unnamed figures link together, intense, obscure and at the same time real, resplendent. Despair, rage, abstract and figurative work: an unprecedented, recognizable reality struggles with lightning, typhoons, earthquakes." Nicolas de Staël Nicolas de Staël is enthusiastic about a match he attends at the Parc des Princes on March 26th 1952. Following this he will spend the night in his studio to transcribe with frenzy his exaltation. He will write to René Char: "It's wonderful. Between heaven and earth, on the red or blue grass, a ton of muscles move in total oblivion of itself, but with all the presence required by the exercise, in the most complete implausibility. What a joy! René, what a joy!". He endeavours to describe the fast, lively and precise movements of the players by superimposing the collage. It creates the rhythm of the intensity of the match, it presents the choreography of the players who cross each other and where play of legs and arms twirl. The movement, as an aesthetic problem is here solved thanks to the flatness of the paper, the material and the volume of the collage. The material becomes thicker and th