Nicolas de Staël (1914-1955)

'de Staël nurtured within himself the vision of a reality which he had not only perceived, but had experienced so deeply that it became an integral part of him. It was from this ordered vision that he drew the materials for his painting, wholly transforming them in the process. This was not a question of simply transposing forms; rather it was a translation of human experience in all of its diversity into another mode a pictorial mode. This was managed so successfully that the paintings, in their organic unity, were able to confront the world of natural objects and still preserve their own identity'
(R. V. Gindertael, 'Introduction', De Staël, exh. cat., Rotterdam, Zurich, Boston, Chicago & New York 1965, unpaged).