Pastels are "luminous and beautiful beyond all other pictures," wrote the English eighteenth century pastellist Francis Cotes, describing the sensual appeal of this special dust rubbed into paper which has enchanted connoisseurs ever since. But the history of pastels is one of compounded mistakes and misattributions: these intimate portraits, whose subjects range from dynasts to servants, have been neglected for the better researched areas of old master drawings and oil painting.This Dictionary sets out to establish, for the first time, a convincing body of knowledge to help identify and attribute works by both major artists and the obscure petits-maîtres. It is an essential academic resource for art historians, a vital tool for collectors and dealers, and a treasure-trove for anyone interested in costume or social and political history.
Pastels from the French school account for more than half the Dictionary, representing most of the more important artists such as Vivien, Nattier, La Tour, Perronneau, Labille-Guiard and Vigée Le Brun. But there were other major pastellists, such as Copley, Russell, Mengs, Carriera and Liotard from the American, English, German, Italian and Swiss schools, as well as a host of minor portraitists, many of whom travelled extensively. The extent of the mutual influences between these schools can only be understood with the Dictionary's integrated global coverage.
The Dictionary includes:
- Records of some 20,000 pastels in public collections or known from exhibition and auction catalogues, including pastels by anonymous artists
- Entries on 1250 named artists
- Approximately 5000 reproductions, many never before published, and references to all known reproductions of other pastels
- A survey placing the major artists of the various schools in an historical context and explaining the technical features of pastel
- A list of exhibitions from 1704 to 2005, including livrets and contemporary criticism for the major exhibitions in Paris, London and elsewhere before 1800
- A topographical index locating pastels in public collections worldwide
An index of some 7000 sitters
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