Pastel Artists 

The first artist who might come to mind is Edgar Degas (1834-1917), who used pastel for many of his later works, including scenes of ballet dancers and nudes. Part of the reason he began to use pastels more frequently from his early 40s was medical: his eyesight was weakening, keeping him from seeing fine pencil lines or mixing colors on a palette. But pastels also allowed him to work quickly. His dealer found these works easy to sell.

Although pastels were known to Renaissance artists, they gained popularity in the 18th century. One of the pastel pioneers was Rosalba Carriera (1675-1757), a Venetian painter who found that this medium allowed her to create the soft effects that she sought in her portraits.

Odilon Redon (1840-1916), a precursor to Surrealism, created highly colorful paintings of imaginary flowers in pastel.

Claude Monet (1840-1926) travelled to London in 1901 but discovered that his canvases and oils had been delayed. He worked with pastels till they arrived, and found that rather than simply preparing him for his oil paintings, the pastels took on a life of their own. He produced over two dozen nuanced versions of the Thames and Waterloo and Charing Cross bridges in just a few days.

Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) began to use pastels when she moved to France in the late 1870s. She was accomplished in their use in the figures she painted. “The colors are pure and unmuddied, the line is sure, and the subjects and compositions are complex.”

Wolf Kahn (1927-2020) painted stunning pastel landscapes in unexpected colors. Indeed, he sought “a coloristic experience that…ups the ante.”

Sources:

Ganz, James A. and Richard Kendall. The Unknown Monet: Pastels and Drawings. The Clark, 2007.

Kahn, Wolf. Wolf Kahn Pastels. Abrams, 2000.

Stratis, Harriet K. “Innovations and Tradition in Mary Cassatt’s Pastels.” in Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1999.

Werner, Alfred. Degas: Pastels. Watson-Guptill, 1977.