Vive le Pastel!

Pastel painting from Vivien to La Tour

This exhibition at the Alte Pinakothek (7 May–23 October) looks at the popularity of pastel painting in the 18th century, showing off the Bavarian State Painting Collection’s impressive holdings in this field. The show looks at the lively techniques honed by virtuosos in the medium such as Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Rosalba Carriera and Jean-Étienne Liotard, and considers why pastels became so popular at this time. Masterpieces of the genre, such as Carriere’s Die Parze Lachesis (c. 1730), are celebrated here – but the show also seeks to elucidate the technical side of pastel painting, looking at how pastels are created and applied and at the advantages they hold over oil paints. The exhibition also provides the opportunity to catch a recent acquisition, La Tour’s Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Philippe. Find out more on Alte Pinakothek’s website.

Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here 

Portrait of Max Emanuel von Beyern als Feldherr (1706), Joseph Vivien. Courtesy Bavarian State Paintings Collections

The Breakfast (c. 1752), Jean-Étienne Liotard. Courtesy Bavarian State Painting Collections

Die Parze Lachesis (c. 1730), Rosalba Carriera. Courtesy Bavarian State Painting Collections