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Pastel portraits of the eighteenth century

Exhibition July 26 − October 29, 2017
"Pastel portraits of the eighteenth century"in the Metropolitan Museum is a small exhibition of the French, Italian, German and British pastels from the Museum's collection.

Pastel portraits flourished in Europe of the 18th century thanks to the distinctive optical properties of the medium - its bright colors and warm glow. Fluffy, three-dimensional structure of pastel pencils has allowed artists to achieve in their works a dual effect – realistic and, at the same time, ephemeral image.

Exhibition of pastels are quite rare, primarily because of the sensitivity of the pastel work to light that prolonged exposure destroys certain pigments. In addition, as a rule, most of the pastels performs on paper that is affected by excess light. As a result, the museums often show pastels in rooms with dim light and for a short period.

Therefore, despite the small number of exhibits, the exhibition "Pastel portraits of the eighteenth century" - this is a very significant event in the world of fine art. Studying the work of Rosalba Carriera, Charles Antoine of Capela, John Russell and other leading portrait painters, the exhibition explores the growing popularity of pastels in combination with artistic practices and technological developments of our time.

On the official website The Metropolitan Museum of artNew York , New York.