Powdered Pigments: Three Centuries of Pastel Drawings

Museum of Art Museum of Art

Exhibition: Powdered Pigments: Three Centuries of Pastel Drawings

Dates:

Location:

Shaw Ruddock Gallery
First used during the Renaissance, pastels have long been a staple in artist studios. "Powdered Pigments" brings together 30 outstanding examples from the Museum’s collection.

Selected Works

A pastel drawing of a mother and child with an orange background

The Barefoot Child, 1897, pastel by Mary Cassatt, American, 1844–1926. Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth, in memory of her husband, Dr. Murray S. Danforth, Class of 1901

A pastoral scene in pastels with flowers and with a bridge

Old Fashioned Garden, ca. 1889, pastel on paperboard by John Appleton Brown, American, 1844–1902. Bequest of Miss Mary Sophia Walker

an abstract image with heavy black lines and pastel colors

Untitled, ca. 1916, pastel, charcoal, and watercolor with traces of graphite by Abraham Walkowitz,, American, 1878/1880–1965. Museum Purchase, George Otis Hamlin Fund

A village scene in pastels with two houses and the ocean in the background

Maine Coastal Village; 1916–1918, gouache and pastel over graphite  by Maurice Brazil Prendergast, American, 1858–1924.Gift of Mrs. Charles Prendergast

 A close up view of a man's face done in pastels

Up Against It, 1979, watercolor, pastel over graphite, by Robert Carston Arneson, American, 1930–1992, Museum Purchase, Elizabeth B. G. Hamlin Fund

About

First used during the Renaissance, pastels have long been a staple in artist studios.  Powdered Pigments brings together 30 outstanding examples from the Museum’s collection to demonstrate the range of approaches and techniques that pastel artists have employed.  Featured artists include John Singleton Copley, Elihu Vedder, Mary Cassatt, Roberto Matta, Juan O’Gorman, Edda Renouf, Rick Bartow, and Thornton Dial. This exhibition was curated by Lily Weafer ’23 and Frank Goodyear.