Art
Pastels Are Damned Beautiful
An exhibition spanning the 16th century to the present displays pastels in all their lush, radiating color.
pastel
Art
Why Adélaïde Labille-Guiard’s 1783 Portrait of a Mother Nursing Broke New Ground
When Labille-Guiard exhibited the portrait at the Paris Salon, it was the only woman in the series. And she was breastfeeding.
Art
The Remarkable Success Story of Rosalba Carriera, the Original “Queen of Pastel”
Partly thanks to Carriera’s skill and clever marketing, pastel portraits became one of the most popular art forms of the Rococo era.
Art
Pastel Then, Pastel Now
The Swiss artist Nicolas Party is both the subject and curator of Pastel, an extraordinary exhibition examining the under-appreciated, fugitive medium and its history.
Art
How 18th-Century Artists Pieced Together Pastel Portraits
In order to make large portraits of European elites, artists had to literally piece together pieces of paper, circumventing the limitations of their medium.