Last weekend for pastels in Washington

Paul Huet, A Meadow at Sunset, c. 1845, pastel on gray-blue paper, Purchased as a Gift in Memory of Melvin R. Seiden, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Edgar Degas, James McNeill Whistler, Henri Matisse, Roy Lichenstein, and Rosalba Carriera are some of the artists represented in The Touch of Color: Pastels at the National Gallery of Art set to close Sunday at 6 p.m.

Maurice-Quentin de La Tour, Claude Dupouch, c. 1739, pastel on blue laid paper mounted on canvas (on stretcher/strainer), Samuel H. Kress Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Käthe Kollwitz, Self-Portrait as a Young Woman, c. 1900, pastel on laid paper, Gift of Robert and Chris Petteys, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

William Merritt Chase, Study of Flesh Color and Gold, 1888, pastel on paper coated with mauve-gray grit (on strainer), Gift of Raymond J. and Margaret Horowitz, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Claude Monet, Waterloo Bridge, 1901, pastel on blue wove paper, Florian Carr Fund, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

The beautiful colors, their mix, their shadows and images is a walk through galleries of a heavenly dream, a wonderland of bliss, yet contrasted with some works to render a "heavenly dream," one of imagination and reality. 

Feel the cold of the hurrying walkers who try to escape blustery winds in Fifth Avenue Bus (1914). Feel the anguish of the expressionless, shadow figures in George Luks' Breadline (1900) who sat in the bottom rung in the gap between America's rich and poor.  What has changed in a century?

George Luks, Breadline, 1900, pastel on paperboard, Corcoran Collection (Estate of Susie Brummer), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Everett Shinn, Fifth Avenue Bus, 23rd Street and Broadway, 1914, pastel and charcoal on rough wove paper, laid down on board, Bequest of Julia B. Engel, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
 
Portraits by Ms. Carriera (1673 or 1675-1757*), a Venetian who was one of the best known 18th century "pastelists," attracted royalty and travelers from Britain who journeyed to Italy to see her works and hire her on commission. 

According to the handsome free 16-page color booklet available at the Gallery show, pastels were considered an appropriate medium for women artists, delicate, sparing  artists' hands from oil paints. 

And as for subject matters, "flowers, figures, and landscapes" were considered satisfactory for female artists to paint. They  had few opportunities beyond pastels to exercise their artistic talents.

Several pastel groups formed, and one, the Pastel Society of London, found in 1898, thrives today.
When ill health befell him,  Édouard Manet turned to pastels which the Gallery literature says is easier to work with than oils. Degas' pastels in a gallery window captured the attention of Mary Cassatt which "changed my life,"  turning her towards impressionism.

Kaywin Feldman, the National Gallery director, noted at the opening of the display that pastel exhibitions are "extremely rare" and "can be difficult to show," but the National Gallery curators and staff managed to hang the pieces in fine arrangement and cloak any difficulties they may have encountered assembling and designing the presentation. 

The pastels are not loaned to other institutions because of their fragile states, and it's fortunate, once again, that Washington, D.C. can lay claim to the National Gallery of Art and its rich collections which are available for all to see at no charge.    

*Ms. Carriera is identified as "one of the most successful women artists of any era" by the National Museum of Women in the Arts and Wikipedia (which differ on the year she was born).

What: The Touch of Color:  Pastels at the National Gallery of Art 

When: Now through January 26, 2020. The National Gallery is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and on Sunday, 11 a.m.- 6 p.m.

Where: The West Building at the National Gallery of Art, between Third and Ninth streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. On the Mall.

How much: Admission to the National Gallery of Art is always free.

Metro stations for the National Gallery of Art:
Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: 202-737-4215
 

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