Edgar Degas, After the Bath, 1899, pastel on paper, Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio: Gift of Ferdinand Howald.
After the Bath
Edgar Degas, one of the greatest artists of all time, was something of an anomaly.
On one hand, he is often considered an impressionist, a term he thoroughly detested, yet his sophisticated experiments with color often outperform those of his contemporaries (Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir). He was a classically minded artist concerned with getting the most out of the fewest elements.
His main concern was the human figure, and he often used pastel to produce stunning works such as After the Bath (1899, pastel on paper).
As a medium for making paintings, pastel is also something of a paradox. It is the freshest and most permanent pure pigment, never changing over time. At the same time, it is one of the most delicate.
Pastels are made using pure pigment mixed with a minimum of a binder. The fibers of the paper catch the crystalline particles in such a way that the light bounces around, reacting to the color in a unique way. Usually, it is best to frame a pastel immediately, and today, there is a non-reflective glass that has encouraged a number of artists to use the medium.
Among those in Columbus using pastel as a main medium is Bridgette Turner, owner for a decade of Clintonville’s Turner Studio & Gallery, just south of the famed Studio 35 Cinema & Drafthouse. I asked Turner what she loves about pastel.
“The ability to create layers of color and texture through the use of hard and soft pastels is what I like most about working in pastel,” Turner says. “In pastel, we consider the application of the pastel as marking as distinctive as brushwork in oil painting.”
Turner represents a host of painters using pastel, such as award-winning Ray Hassard, Carol Strock Wasson and Doreen St. John.
Indianola Art Crawl
May 20
www.bridgetteturnerfineart.com
Michael McEwan teaches oil painting classes in his Summit Street studio. His paintings are available exclusively from Keny Galleries. Learn more at www.michaelmcewan.com.
