Made of almost pure pigment, soft pastel painting didn’t start until after 1650. They excel in representing flesh, so became popular for portraits, and have since extended to other genres.
pastel
From Robert Nanteuil’s first pastel portraits in the 1660s to Ants Laikmaa in 1929, a history of the greatest pastel painters and links to articles about individual artists.
From about 1900, he painted almost exclusively in pastel, finely realist works that rendered surface optical properties to perfection.
Prodigy and friend of John Singer Sargent, he was a successful portrait-painter to the wealthy and a master pastellist.
A key artist in the development of the Estonian nation, he was also an avid painter in pastels. Here’s a small selection of his work from the 20th century.
After his death, over 1500 of his pastels were sold, the great majority of which have since disappeared. Here are some of the finest of the survivors.
Despite its popularity at the time, few Symbolist pastel paintings are now accessible. Here are six from these two artists, including this fascinating print.
Pastel paintings by these three Nabis, who underwent conventional training and explored different media. Later paintings by Roussel are really special.
He didn’t paint much in pastels until he was in his fifties, but for the last 20 years of his life he made many highly original works in their pure colour.
Possibly taught by the portraitist Charles Chaplin, she painted pastels with Edgar Degas but took a different approach to composition, specialising in mothers and infants.
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