Lithograph and stencil on grand vélin de Mandeure paper. Paper size: 15.6 x 11 inches. Excellent condition. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Notes: From the folio, Lettres de Nicolas de Staël à Pierre Lecuire, 1966. Published and printed by Pierre Lecuire, Paris. Excerpted from the folio (translated from French), From this original edition of Lettres de Nicolas de Staël à Pierre Lecuire, 225 examples were drawn: 25 examples, numbered from 1 to 25, printed on papier d'Auvergne du Moulin Richard-de-Bas and augmented by a proof of the color cover, four facsimile letters from Nicolas de Staël printed on papier Canton de Richard-de-Bas, an envelope of a letter from Nicolas de Staël to Pierre Lecuire and a tricolor postcard from Pierre Lecuire to Nicolas de Staël, both in facsimiles; 200 examples, numbered from 26 to 225, printed on grand vélin de Mandeure. In addition, 25 examples were printed, Hors Commerce, also on grand vélin de Mandeure, marked from A to Y. NICOLAS DE STAEL (1914-1955) was a French painter of Russian origin known for his use of a thick impasto and his highly abstract landscape painting. He also worked with collage, illustration and textiles. He sold several paintings to important collectors including Duncan Phillips of the Phillips Collection. He had considerable success in the United States, and England in the early 1950s. In 1950 Leo Castelli organized a group exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery in New York City that included him. In 1952, he had one-man exhibitions in London, Montevideo, and in Paris. In March 1953, he had his first official one-man exhibition at M. Knoedler & Co. in New York City. The show was both a commercial and critical success. In 1953 he had an exhibition at the Phillips Gallery in Washington DC, (known today as The Phillips Collection in Washington DC) and they acquired two more of his canvasses. His new paintings marked his departure from abstraction and a return to figuration, still-life and landscape.