NICOLAS DE STAËL | Bol gris

Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York
Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris 
Galerie Jan Krugier, Genève
Galerie Ariel, Paris
Acquired from the above by the present owner

London, Gimpel Fils Ltd, Nicolas de Staël, 18 June - 13 July 1963; catalogue, np., no. 25, illustrated
New York, Paul Rosenberg & Co., Nicolas de Staël, 1963; catalogue, p.5, no. 24

Jacques Dubourg et Françoise de Staël, Nicolas de Staël, Catalogue Raisonné des Peintures, Paris 1968, p. 335, no. 832 , illustrated
Françoise de Staël, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, Paris, 1997, p. 571, illustrated

The colours are fairly accurate in the printed catalogue illustration. The work is executed on its original canvas and is not relined. There are faint wear marks along the edges, mainly visible along the upper and right edge. A web of cracks is located in the upper right quadrant together with a small area of stable hairline cracks visible upon close inspection only. Lower left quadrant presents tiny cracks visible upon close inspection only. Tiny dirt marks are scattered throughout the surface. Under Ultra Violet Light inspection no areas fluoresce. This work is in very good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Painted in 1954, a decisive year that marked Nicolas de Staël's tremendous  success overseas thanks to Paul Rosenberg and the major exhibition he held in his upper East side gallery, Bol Gris is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished works by the artist who is today widely recognized as one the greatest painters of the 20^th century ever realized. Exhausted but happy with the quality of the work he delivered to the legendary New York art dealer – "Here you'll find, in addition to what I've already sent, enough to put together the most beautiful exhibition I have ever had", he writes in one of his letters to the gallery owner-, Staël took on a new direction, tackling still life completely differently, which will prove decisive to his later work. With its subtly nuanced palette of colours, its delicate impastos and its extremely refined chiaroscuros, Bol Gris bears witness to the major changes at play in the painter's practice at the turn of the 1950's: it is a rare combination of the series of consecutive innovations Staël introduced in his compositions after his arrival in Paris fifteen years earlier.

Looking at it closely, Staël's dexterous effort in the upper half of the canvas to bring a touch of light which oozes onto the surface of the work also reveals the extent of his technical mastery. The eminent art critic Roger Van Gindertaël made no mistake when writing in the famous Cimaise review that, with the series of works Bol Gris was part of, "Staël shows he is rising up to the challenge of a new figuration, I mean, a figuration once again outperformed." And it was indeed with this tour de force, crystallized in Bol Gris, which consists in abolishing the boundary between figuration and abstraction that Staël forever altered the course of art history.