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PASTEL

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Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 892 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PASTEL , the name of a particular method of See also:

painting with dry See also:pigments, so called from the " See also:paste " into which they are first compounded. The invention of pastel, which used to be generally called " See also:crayon," has frequently been accredited to Johann See also:Alexander Thiele (1685-1752), landscape-painter and etcher of distinction, as well as to Mme Vernerin and Mlle Heid (1688-1753), both of See also:Danzig. But the claim cannot be substantiated, as See also:drawing in coloured chalks had been practised See also:long before, e.g. by Guido Reni (1575-1642), by whom a See also:head and bust in this manner exists in the See also:Dresden See also:Gallery. Thiele was perhaps the first to carry the See also:art to perfection, at least in See also:Germany, where it was extensively exploited in the 17th See also:century; but his contemporary, Rosalba Carriera of See also:Venice (1675–1757), is more completely identified with it, and in her practice of it made a See also:European reputation which to this See also:day is in some measure maintained. The Dresden Museum contains 157 examples of her See also:work in this See also:medium, portraits, subjects and the like. Thiele was followed by Anton See also:Raphael See also:Mengs (1728–1779) and his See also:sister Theresia Mengs (afterwards Maron, 1725–1806), and by Johann Heinrich See also:Schmidt (1949–1829). When in 1720 Rosalba Carriera accepted an invitation to visit See also:Paris, where she was received with See also:general See also:enthusiasm, she found the art of pastel-painting well established; that is to say, it was used to reproduce See also:local See also:colour with truth. She made it fashionable and combined truth with nature. Nearly a See also:hundred years before See also:Claude Lorrain had used coloured chalks as Dutch and See also:Italian painters had used them, often with high finish, employing mainly red, See also:blue and See also:black, for the See also:sake of prettiness of effect and not with the intention of reproducing with accuracy the actual See also:colours of the head, the figure, or the landscape before them. This method of making drawings—rehausses, as they were called—has remained in See also:common use almost to the See also:present day, especially for studies. It is necessary only to cite among many examples the See also:series of heads by See also:Holbein, the highly esteemed studies by See also:Watteau, See also:Boucher and See also:Greuze, and of See also:John Raphael See also:Smith and See also:Sir See also:Thomas See also:Lawrence, to indicate how general has been the employment of the coloured See also:chalk. In 1747 See also:Nattier (1685–1766) showed a pastel portrait of M.

Logerot in the Paris See also:

Salon, and his son-in-See also:law, See also:Louis Tocque (1696--1772), soon followed with similar work. See also:Hubert See also:Drouais (1699–1767) had preceded his See also:rival Nattier in the Salon by a single See also:year with five pastel portraits, and See also:Chardin (1699–1779) followed in 1771. This See also:great See also:master set himself to work in emulation of Quentin de la Tour (1704–1788), who in spite of the ability of his rivals may be regarded as the most eminent pastellist See also:France has produced. His portraits of Mme Boucher and himself appeared in the Salon in 1737; his full strength as a portrait-pastellist is to be gauged in the collection of eighty-five of his See also:principal See also:works now in the museum of St Quentin. Then followed See also:Simon Mathurin See also:Lantara (1729–1778), who was one of the first to paint pastel-pictures of landscapes, including sunsets and moonlights, as well as See also:marines, into which the figures were See also:drawn by See also:Joseph See also:Vernet, Casanova and others, and See also:Jean See also:Baptiste Perronneau (1731–1796), the best of whose heads have been often attributed to de la Tour and whose " Jeune fille au chat" in the Louvre, though not the finest, is perhaps the best known of his works, was the last pre-eminent See also:French pastellist of the 18th century. Since then they have been See also:legion; of these it is needful to mention only Girodet and the See also:flower-painters, Jean See also:Saint-Simon and Sprendonck. Two Swiss painters had considerable See also:influence in spreading the use of pastel—the experimentalist See also:Dietrich See also:Meyer (1572–1658), one of the first to make designs in coloured chalks (and reputed inventor of soft-ground See also:etching), and Jean See also:Etienne See also:Liotard (1702 or 1704–1788), one of the most brilliant pastellists who ever lived. Two of his works are See also:world-famous, " La Belle Chocolatiere de See also:Vienne," executed in 1745, now in the Dresden Museum, and " La Belle Liseuse" of the following year at the museum at See also:Amsterdam. The latter is a portrait of his niece, Mlle Lavergne. In 1753, and again in 1772, Liotard visited See also:England, where his brilliant work, portraits and landscapes, produced a great effect, almost equal to that of de la Tour twenty years before. To the Royal See also:Academy between 1773 and 1775 Liotard contributed the portraits of Dr See also:Thomson, himself, See also:Lord Duncannon and General Cholmondely. Crayon-painting was practised in England at an See also:early date, and John See also:Riley (1646–1691), many of whose finest works are attributed to Sir See also:Peter See also:Lely, produced 'numerous portraits in that medium.

See also:

Francis Knapton (1698–1778), See also:court painter, was a more prolific master, and he, with See also:William See also:Hoare of See also:Bath (? 17o7–1992) who had studied pastel in See also:Italy and made many classic designs in that medium, exhibiting at the Royal Academy his " Boy as See also:Cupid," " Prudence instructing her See also:Pupil," " See also:Diana," " A Zingara," and others, prepared the way for thetriumph of Francis See also:Cotes (? 1725–177o). Then for the first See also:time pastel-painting was fully See also:developed by an See also:English See also:hand. Before he became a painter in oil Cotes had worked under Rosalba Carriera, and, although he was rather See also:cold and chalky in his tones, he produced portraits, such as his " Mr and Mrs Joah See also:Bates" and " Lord See also:Hawke," which testify to his high ability. He was, however, far surpassed by his pupil, John See also:Russell, R.A. (1745–1806), who brought the art to perfection, displaying See also:grace and See also:good expression in all his pastel work, whether portrait, See also:fancy picture, See also:historical subject, See also:group, or " conversation-piece." He had brought from Rosalba her four See also:fine pictures representing " The Seasons," and in a great measure founded his See also:style on them. He was strong and brilliant in colour, and when he was at his best his high, smooth finish in no way robbed his work of vigour. See also:Romney (1734–1802) in his single pastel portrait, a likeness of William See also:Cowper the poet, showed that he might have excelled in this medium, which, indeed, was particularly suited to his See also:tender manner. See also:Hugh D. See also:Hamilton (c. 1734–1806) of the Royal Hibernian Academy, produced See also:note-worthy portraits, mainly in See also:grey, red and black, until on the See also:suggestion of See also:Flaxman he abandoned pastel for oil.

Ozias See also:

Humphry, A.R.A. (1742–1810), painter and miniaturist, is an important figure among the pastellists, commonly believed to be the first in England who made a point of letting his colour strokes be seen (as by Emile See also:Wauters and others in our own day), contrary to the practice of Russell and his predecessors, whose See also:prime effort was to blend all into imperceptible gradations. See also:Richard See also:Cosway, R.A. (1742–1821) was mainly experimental in his pastels, but his portraits, such as that of See also:George See also:prince of See also:Wales, are forcible and brilliant; those of his wife Maria Cosway (1759–1838) are more delicate. See also:Daniel See also:Gardner (? 1750-1805), whose pictures in oil have often been mitsaken for See also:Reynolds's and See also:Gainsborough's, gave See also:rein to his exuberant fancy and his rather exaggerated See also:taste in compositions which, in his arrangement of See also:children, remind us of Sir Thomas Lawrence in his more fantastic See also:mood. Gardner marked the deterioration of the art, which thereafter declined, See also:Henry See also:Bright (1814–1873) being almost the only pastellist of real See also:power who followed him. Bright's landscapes have, probably in their own See also:line never been surpassed. Since 187o there has been a revival of the art of pastel, the result of a better understanding and appreciation on the See also:part of the public. See also:Grimm's denunciation of it to See also:Diderot—" every one is agreed that pastel is unworthy the See also:notice of a great painter "—which for many years had found general See also:acceptance, is now seen to have been based on forgetfulness or See also:ignorance of the virtues inherent in the method. It was thought that " coloured chalks," as it used to be called in English-speaking countries, promised nothing but sketches of an ephemeral See also:kind, so fragile that they were at the See also:mercy of every See also:chance See also:blow or every See also:touch of dampness. The fact is, that with care no greater than is accorded to every work of art, pastel properly used is not more perishable than the oil-painting or the See also:water-colour.

See also:

Damp will affect it seriously, but so also will it ruin the water-colour; and rough usage is to be feared for the oil-picture not less than for the pastel. Moreover, pastel possesses advantages that can be claimed by neither oil-painting nor water-colour. That is to say, if pictures in these three mediums be hung See also:side by side for a hundred years in a See also:fair See also:light and in a dry See also:place, the oil-painting will have darkened and very probably have cracked; the water-colour will have faded; but the pastel will remain as bright, fresh, and pure as the day it was painted. If Time and See also:Varnish, which See also:Hogarth and See also:Millais both declared the two greatest of the old masters, will do nothing to " improve" a pastel, neither will they ruin it—time passes it by and varnish must on no See also:account be allowed to approach it. The pastel-painter, therefore, having no See also:adventitious assistance to See also:hope for, or to fear, must secure at once the utmost of which his method is capable. The advantages of pastel are threefold: those of working, those of results, and those of permanence. The artist has at his command, without See also:necessity of mixing his colours, every See also:hue to be found in nature, so that freshness and luminosity can always be secured without fear of that loss of brilliancy commonly attendant on the mixing of colour on the See also:palette. Moreover, the fact of pastel being dry permits the artist to leave his work and take it up again as he may choose; and he is See also:free from many of the technical troubles and anxieties natural to oil and water-colour painting. Applied with knowledge, pastel, which has been likened for delicacy of beauty to " the coloured dust upon the See also:velvet of butterflies' wings," will not fall off. It can, if desired—though this is hardly necessary or desirable—be " fixed," most commonly by a fixalif. If intending so to treat his work, the artist must paint in a somewhat lighter See also:key, as the effect of the fixing medium is slightly to See also:lower the general See also:tone. The fixalif Lacaze is considered the best, but the general consensus of See also:opinion among artists is against the use of any such See also:device.

This preparation has the See also:

advantage of leaving the colour unchanged, even though it dulls it; shellac fixalif has the effect of darkening the work. The inherent qualities of pastel are those of See also:charm, of subtlety, softness, exquisite depths of tone, unsurpassable harmonies and unique freshness of colour, sweetness, delicacy, See also:mystery—all the virtues sought for by the artist of daintiness and refinement. Pastel-painting is essentially, therefore, the art of the colourist. Now, these very qualities suggest its limitations. Although it is unfair to relegate it—as See also:fashion has foolishly done for so long—to the bunch of See also:pretty triflings which See also:Carlyle called " Pompadourisms," we must recognize that a medium which suggests the See also:bloom upon the See also:peach is not proper to be employed for rendering " See also:grand," or even genre subjects, or for the covering of large surfaces of See also:canvas. It is inappropriate to the painting of classic compositions, although in point of fact it has been so used, not without success. It is best adapted to the rendering of still See also:life, of landscape and of See also:portraiture. But in these cases it is not advisable to aim_ at that solidity which is the virtue of oil-painting, if only because oil can bring about a better result. The real See also:reason is that, in securing solidity, pastel tends to forfeit that lightness and grace which constitute its See also:special charm and merit. Strength belongs to oil, tenderness and subtlety to pastel, together with freshness and elegance. The pre-eminent technical advantage, in addition to those already mentioned, is the permanence of the tones. In water-colours there is an admixture of See also:gum and glycerine which may attract moisture from the See also:air; and, besides, the pigment is used in very thin washes.

In oil-painting not only does the oil darken with See also:

age but sometimes draws See also:oxygen from a pigment and changes its hue. In pastel the colour is put on without any moist admixture, and can be laid on thick. Moreover, the permanence may arise from the method of manufacture. In a very rare work, The See also:Excellency of the See also:Pen and See also:Pencil (1668), a See also:chapter on " how to make pastils" [sic] " of several colours, for drawing figure, landskip, See also:architecture, &c., on blew See also:paper," describes the manner of grinding up the pigments with grease. This used to be the See also:secret of pastel—that every See also:grain of colour was separately and securely locked up in grease, and so was secured from any chemical See also:change that might have come about through contact of the colours with one another or with the See also:atmosphere. With pastel nothing of the kind could occur; and the works of Rosalba Carriera in Italy, of Quentin Latour, Peronneau, Watteau, St Jean, See also:Paul Hoin and Chardin in France, and of Russell and Cotes in England—to name no others —testify to the permanency of the colours. Some manufacturers nowadays employ gum as the binding medium; others beeswax (which at one time was more frequently used than it is at present) ; others, again, a very small proportion of See also:tallow, and sometimes a little See also:soap. But this introduction of binding See also:media is now adopted only in the See also:case of certain colours. Whether the point or edge of the stick be used (as in pastel drawing), or the side of it, helped with the tips of the fingers (as in pastel painting), the result is equally permanent; and if, when the work is done, it be struck two or three times, and then touched up by hand-crayons, no dropping of colour from the paper need ever occur. The drawing is made on a grainedpaper that will hold the chalk, or on a specially manufactured toothed See also:cloth. The French paper known as gras gris bleute is employed by certain of the leading pastellists. The crisp touches of the pastel can be placed side by side, or the " vibrations" which the artist seeks may be obtained by glazes and super-posed tones.

It should here be mentioned that about the year 1900 M. Jean-See also:

Francois Raffaelli produced in Paris sticks of oil colours which he claimed would in a great measure replace painting with the See also:brush. Although the See also:system was widely tried and many good pictures painted in this method, it was found that the colours became dull, and such See also:vogue as these " solid paints " enjoyed for a time has to a very great extent disappeared. The art of pastel, as M. See also:Roger Ballu expressed it, " was slumbering a little," until in 187o the Societe See also:des Pastellistes was founded in France and met with ready appreciation. With many artists it was a See also:matter of " coloured chalks," as, for example, with See also:Millet, Lhermitte and See also:Degas in France, and with See also:Whistler in England. With the See also:majority the full possibilities were seized, and a great number of artists abroad then practised the art for the sake of colour, among whom may be mentioned Adrien See also:Moreau, A. See also:Besnard, Emile See also:Levy, Machard, Pointelin, Georges See also:Picard, de Nittis, Iwill, Rene Billotte, Jozan, Nozel, Raffa,elli, Brochard (mainly upon vellum) and Levy-Dhurmer in France; in See also:Belgium, Emile Wauters (who has produced a great series of life-sized portraits of both men and See also:women of amazing strength, vitality and cofnpleteness) and Fernand See also:Khnopff ; in Italy, C. Laurenti,P.Fragiacomo and Giovanni See also:Segantini; in See also:Holland, Josselin de Jong; in Germany, F. von See also:Lenbach, Max See also:Liebermann and See also:Franz See also:Stuck; and in See also:Norway, Fritz Thaulow. In England the revival of pastel See also:dates from 188o, when the first See also:exhibition of the Pastel Society was held in the Grosvenor Gallery. The exhibition was a succes d'estime, but after a while the society languished until, in 1899, it was reconstituted, and obtained the See also:adhesion of many of the most distinguished artists practising in the See also:country, as well as of a See also:score of eminent See also:foreign painters. In that year, and since, it has held exhibitions of a high See also:order; and intelligent public appreciation has been directed to the work of the most noteworthy contributors.

Among these are E. A. See also:

Abbey, R.A.; M`Lure Hamilton; J. M. See also:Swan, R.A.; J. Lorimer, R.S.A.; A. Peppercorn, R. See also:Anning See also:Bell, J. J. See also:Shannon, R.A.; Sir See also:James See also:Guthrie, P.R.S.A.; H. Brabazon, See also:Walter See also:Crane, Melton See also:Fisher, See also:Edward Stott, A.R.A.; S. J.

See also:

Solomon, R.A.; and W. Rothenstein. See Karl See also:Robert [Georges Meusnier], Le Pastel (See also:Laurens, Paris, 189o) ; J. L. Sprinck, A See also:Guide to Pastel Painting (Rowney, See also:London) ; Henry See also:Murray, The Art of Painting and Drawing in Coloured Crayons (See also:Winsor & See also:Newton, London). Among early works are: ,John Russell, R.A., Elements of Painting with Crayons (1996); M.P.R. de C.C., Traite de la peinture an pastel avec See also:les moyens de prevenir l'alteration des couleurs (Paris, 1788) ; Rosalba Carriera, Diario degli anni 1720 e 1721 scritto di propria matzo in Parigia, &c. (Giovanni Vianelli, Venice, 1793, 4to) ; See also:Girolamo Zanetti, Elogio di Rosalba Carriera, pittrice (Venice, 1818, 8vo). See also See also:Henri Lapauze, Les Pastels de M. Quentin de La Tour a St Quentin, See also:preface by Gustave Larroumet (Paris) ; George C. See also:Williamson, John Russell, R.A. (London, 1894). (M.

H.

End of Article: PASTEL

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