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French 18th Century Pastel Portrait of a Young Lady in Period Costume.

18th Century

About the Item

Late 18th Century French pastel portrait on paper of a young lady in period dress in a 'feigned oval'. In gilt wood frame presented under glass. Very much of its period and similar in composition and style to the works of de la Tour, Perroneau and Greuze. Almost 2,500 artists and amateurs were said to be working in pastel in mid 18th-century Paris. Pastels have always been praised for the freshness of their colours, at once both brilliant and subtle. Although we now recognize their fragility, in the eighteenth century pastels were often thought more durable than oils, as these vibrant colours were less susceptible to damage by light (oils often faded or yellowed with age). Pastel, too, afforded the artist a richer interplay between medium and support than oils did. Pastel paintings were commonly executed on blue paper mounted on canvas, not only because this was the thickest paper available in the eighteenth century, but also because of the chromatic advantages it offered as the pigments of the pastel picked up and interacted with the blue background. Lively pastel studies for finished portraits were almost unique to Maurice Quentin de La Tour (1704–1788), perhaps the eighteenth century’s most feted pastelist, but they offer an invaluable insight into how such tonal complexity was worked up. Unlike oils, which can be mixed on a palette from nine or ten basic pigments, each tone requires a different stick of pastel, with artists making use of hundreds of crayons. Portraits were executed for the wealthy middle classes, often in commemoration of marriage or children.
  • Creation Year:
    18th Century
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)Width: 15 in (38.1 cm)Depth: 0.75 in (1.91 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Wear commensurate with age and medium. Some wear to the centre section but does not detract from the charm of the drawing.
  • Gallery Location:
    Cotignac, FR
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: LG/Unknown/Portrait.1stDibs: LU143028815662

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