The painter and graphic artist Pol Cassel (originally Paul Ernst Karl Cassel) was born in March 17, 1892, in Munich. After his education at the art trade schools in Erfurt and Dresden from 1907 until 1914, Pol Cassel was drafted into military service and served in the First World War.
After the war, Cassel joined the circles around Conrad Felixmüller, Otto Griebel, and Otto Dix. After moving to Wehlen near Dresden, Pol Cassel worked in his summer studio there until 1938. There he painted many expressive nature pieces and portraits, which were influenced by the avant-garde trends of the time.
With the Nazis coming to power in 1933, Cassel's career as a modern painter was effectively ended. On the one hand, his paintings were considered degenerate, and on the other, his decision to join the National Socialist Party alienated his friends among the art circles. He achieved neither the hoped for recognition of the new regime nor that of his former artistic comrades-in-arms. Plagued by financial need, he had to earn his living working in the quarries of Saxony. In 1939, Cassel became eligible for military duty and was drafted again in 1944.
Pol Cassel died as a prisoner of war on September 9, 1945, in Kishinev.