Paris (AFP)

Estimated between 18 and 25 million euros, a masterpiece of Nicolas de Stael, "Parc des Princes", dating from 1952, is proposed Thursday night at auction in Paris, with a possible new world record for the French painter of Russian origin, according to Christie's.

The current record for Nicolas de Staël, born Nikolai Vladimirovich Staël von Holstein in Saint Petersburg, was established by the canvas "Naked standing", auctioned by Christie's in New York in 2018 for 12.1 million USD (11 million EUR) .

Loaned at the Picasso Museum in Antibes, "Parc des Princes", referenced canvas 2.5 mx 3 m, is put on the market for the first time.

Owned by the artist's descendants since his death in 1955 at age 41, the work has been exhibited only a dozen times: in New York in 1953, then in Paris at the National Museum of Modern Art in 1956, before the Maeght Foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence in 1972, the Grand Palais in Paris three years later, and London and Madrid in 1991. The painting was again shown in Paris in 2003, at the Pompidou Center.

"This monumental painting was made in 1952, when the painter and his wife attended a football match between France and Sweden, at the Parc des Princes." De Stael was so captivated by the intensity of the game he played. all night in his studio, to translate his experience on the web, "says Christie's.

For the specialist Pierre Martin-Vivier, director of Christie's twentieth-century department, "+ Parc des Princes +" represents a turning point in the artist's career, when he was then divided between abstraction and figuration ".

"Between heaven and earth, on the red or blue grass a ton of muscles flutters in the midst of self-forgetfulness with all the presence that it requires, in all improbability.What joy! Rene, what joy! Then, I put in the entire team of France, Sweden and it starts to move a little bit, "said Nicolas de Stael in a letter to his friend the poet René Char April 10, 1952.

In the following months, the painter worked on a series of 24 paintings dedicated to football, called "The Footballers" or "Parc des Princes".

During the sale devoted Thursday night to the avant-garde and the great masters of the twentieth century, works by René Magritte, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso, Yves Klein, Serge Poliakoff, Paul Klee, Alberto Giacometti, Jean Dubuffet or Joan Miro will also be offered.

© 2019 AFP