Laocoön and His Sons
When De Staebler was eight, his father met with the director of the St. Louis Art Museum to discuss his son's burgeoning art practice. While at the museum, a bronze copy of the Hellenistic marble sculpture Laocoön and His Sons made an indelible impression on the young artist's psyche. He subsequently signed up for painting lessons with Warren "Gus" Ludwig, an art professor of Washington University in St. Louis, and later took a private clay modeling class with Amanda Hawkins at John Burroughs School, a St. Louis prep school.