A painting by Nicolas de Staël, estimated at €600,000-800,000 at Paris Enchères.
The large 6ft 7in x 3ft 2in (2 x 1m) oil on canvas, painted in 1949, was purchased direct from the artist by the poet and publisher Pierre Lecuire (1922-2013) and has since remained in his collection. Lecuire first met de Staël in 1945 and a friendship between the two men developed over the next decade.
The painting featured in a 2003 exhibition on the artist at the Pompidou Centre and is in the catalogue raisonné.
It has an estimate of €600,000-800,000.
Other works from the Lecuire collection will be sold by the auction house in November.
