09 March, 2007

Degas Pastel


The Artist's Cousin, 1873
Edgar Degas

This wonderful portrait shows some of Degas' process and technique with pastels. I couldn't resist sharing it with you.
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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for these pastel posts, Casey. Made me quite nostalgic for my pastels .... maybe I will go back to them soon!

Degas is one of my art heroes and was an inspiration to me with figurative pastel work. I had not seen the Wikipedia entry before ... very good description of the man and his work.

I switched to mainly acrylic about 18 months ago because there seems to be a bit resistance to pastel paintings again recently. Well here at least. It seems to go in cycles ... do you find this?

March 9, 2007 at 6:39 PM
Casey Klahn said...

I am probably too new on the scene to say. I have never been told to my face by a gallerist that pastels would not be accepted there. In fact, I was invited in cold, by a first rate gallery owner, to show my pastels in his gallery that had until that point been very traditional oil paintings and bronze sculptures.
The PSA claims that the acceptance levels are high, and I think that pricing would indicate that, too.
I think my own approach is to educate the patronage (and gallerists) as much as possible about this medium which has about the same era of usage as oil paint (@400 plus years - let me check my facts on that and get back to you), and superior archivality.
Did you see my entry about the kid working in the NYC gallery showing W. Kahn, who thought that he was using oil pastel with soft pastel on a certain piece?
Hello, art schools!
I guess I did see, recently, an entry in an art education web page (Australia, I think it originated from) that was slamming pastel in the old school manner. "(pastel makes)...bad works;(pastel is)...not properly referred to as painting."
So, educate and present good quality I say. Diana Pontings work expresses the high quality that pastel is capable of, that's for sure.

March 9, 2007 at 8:50 PM
Robyn Sinclair said...

Oh Dear, trust those Australians! I think it's why my husband decided to leave the country. The Degas is beautiful, I can't wait to try some of his technique. I can hear my watercolours fretting in the cupboard.

March 10, 2007 at 2:45 AM
Casey Klahn said...

Of course, this pastel slur can occur in any country...no offense "down under"!
I can't get over The Green Singer. I feel the urge to copy it; it seems to sing out as consistent with current art, even a hundred years hence.

March 10, 2007 at 8:11 AM

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Abstract Expressionism, Art Criticism, Artists, Colorist Art, Drawing, History, Impressionism, Modern Art, Painting, Pastel, Post Impressionism