Pol Cassel (originally Paul Ernst Karl Cassel), the classical modernist painter and graphic designer, was born in March 17, 1892, in Munich. Pol Cassel received his education at the art trade schools in Erfurt and Dresden from 1907 until 1914. After serving in the First World War, Cassel joined the circles around Conrad Felixmüller. Cassel moved his family to Wehlen near Dresden from 1921 until 1938. There he painted the nature pieces, portraits, still lifes, animal images, and atmospheric landscapes, which were influenced by the avant-garde trends of the time. With the Nazis coming to power in 1933, Cassel's work as a modern painter became impossible, because his works were considered degenerate by the Nazis. His paintings were included in the 1933 exhibition "Reflections of Decadence" in Dresden and in the exhibition "Degenerate Art' in Munich in 1937. After joining the National Socialist Party, he lost all support from his friends among the art circles. He therefore achieved neither the hoped for recognition of the new regime nor that of his former artistic comrades-in-arms. Financial need forced Cassel to provide for his family by working in the quarries of Saxony. Cassel was drafted again in 1944 and found himself a prisoner of war on the Eastern front. Pol Cassel died on September 9, 1945, in Kishinev, Russia.