19/20 September Peter Raissis

Diploma Lecture Series 2012
Absolutism to enlightenment: European art and culture 1665-1765
La Tour, Liotard and the Pastellists
Peter Raissis
19/20 September 2012
Lecture summary:
Known to Leonardo da Vinci as the “dry colouring method”, pastel is an unrivalled medium for the
freshness and luminosity of its colours and the delicacy of its nuances. This lecture will explore the
development of pastel as an artistic medium from the Renaissance to the 18th century, when the
vogue for pastel painting reached its zenith, particularly in France. In the hands of artists such as
Maurice-Quentin de La Tour (1704-1788) – the most celebrated pastellist of the 18th century – as
well as his contemporaries Jean-Étienne Liotard (1702-1789), Rosalba Carriera (1675-1757) and
Jean-Baptiste Perronneau (1715-1783), pastel was used as a virtuoso medium that could rival oil
painting.
Slide list:
1. Signorelli Hercules and Antaeus 1490s black chalk Royal Collection
2. Titian Angel c1560 black and white chalk on blue paper Uffizi
3. Leonardo Head of Judas 1490s red chalk Royal Collection
4. Leonardo Isabella d’Este c1500 pastel Louvre
5. Leonardo Study for the head of the Virgin c1510 pastel Met, NY
6. Michelangelo Madonna and Child c1525 pastel Uffizi
7. Barrocci Head of a boy c1586 pastel Alberina
8. Barrocci Study for head of Christ c1576 pastel Alberina
9. Barrocci Annunciation c1582 pastel Uffizi
10. François Clouet Portrait of unknown man 1565 red and black chalk Musée Condé, Chantilly
11. Rubens Hélène Fourment c1630 red, black and white chalk Courtauld Institute, London
12. Watteau Studies of eight heads and a hand holding a mask c1714 red black and white chalk
13. Joseph Vivien Portrait of Bacqueville de La Potherie 1704 pastel Musée Chartreuse, Douai
14. Carriera A muse mid1720s pastel Getty, LA
15. Chardin Self-portrait at an easel c1779 pastel Louvre
16. Carriera Gustavus Hamilton, 2ns Viscount Boyne in masquerade costume c1730 pastel Met,
NY
17. Carriera Nymph 1720s pastel Louvre
18. Carriera A young lady with a parrot c1730 pastel Art Institute of Chicago
19. La Tour Self-portrait (the painter laughing) 1737 pastel Louvre
20. Antoine Coypel Democritus 1692 oil on canvas Louvre
21.
La Tour Self-portrait c1750 pastel Musée de Picardie, Amiens
*
22. La Tour Self-portrait c1750 Musée Cognacy-Jay, Paris
23. La Tour Self-portrait c1750 Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena
24. La Tour Self-portrait (preparation) c1750 pastel Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon
25. La Tour Self-portrait (preparation) c1760 pastel Louvre
26. La Tour Self-portrait c1770 pastel Fine Arts Museum San Francisco
Proudly sponsored by
27. Charles Lemonnier Mme Geoffrin’s Salon 1755 1812 Musée National du Château de
Malmaison
28. La Tour Mlle Ferrand meditating on Newton 1753 pastel Alte Pinakothek Munich
29. La Tour The abbé Huber 1742 pastel Musée d’Art de d’Histoire, Geneva
30. La Tour Voltaire (preparation) c1736 Nationalmuseum, Stockholm
31. La Tour Voltaire (preparation) c1736 Musée Antoine Lécuyer, Saint Quentin
32. La Tour Jean Le Rond d’Alembert 1753 pastel Louvre
33. La Tour Jean-Jacques Roussau 1753 pastel Musée d’Art de d’Histoire, Geneva
* 34. La Tour La marquise de Pompadour 1755 pastel Louvre
35. La Tour Preparation for La marquise de Pompadour c1753 pastel Musée Antoine Lécuyer,
Saint Quentin
36. La Tour Le Président de Rieux 1741 Getty, LA
37. Perronneau Olivier Journu 1756 pastel Met, NY
38. Perronneau Antoine Lemoyne 1747 pastel private collection
39. Perronneau Young girl with a cat 1747 pastel Louvre
40. Liotard Sir Everard Fawkener c1738 red and black chalk private collection
41. Liotard Gaspard de Péleran, French consul to Smyrna 1738 red and black chalk, Louvre
42. Liotard Woman of Constantinople entering a hamman 1738 black and red chalk Louvre
* 43. Liotard Frankish woman and her servant at a hammam c1742 pastel Musée d’Art de d’Histoire,
Geneva
44. Liotard Young woman in Turkish costume playing the tambourine 1740s/50s pastel private
collection
45. Liotard Young woman in Turkish costume seated on a divan (presumed portrait of the
Countess of Coventry) c1750 pastel Musée d’Art de d’Histoire, Geneva
46. Liotard Self-portrait with a beard 1744 pastel Uffizi
47. Liotard The Empress Maria-Theresa 1762 pastel Musée d’Art de d’Histoire, Geneva
48. Liotard The artist’s wife and his eldest daughter Marie-Jeanne c1766 pastel Musée d’Art de
d’Histoire, Geneva
49. Liotard Marie-Thérèse Liotard c1779 pastel Musée d’Art de d’Histoire, Geneva
50. Liotard The Archduchess Marie-Christine 1762 pastel Musée d’Art de d’Histoire, Geneva
51. Liotard The Archduchess Marie-Antoinette 1762 pastel Musée d’Art de d’Histoire, Geneva
52. Liotard Maid carrying chocolate (La belle chocolatière) c1745 pastel Gemäldegalerie, Dresden
* 53. Liotard Self-portrait (known as Liotard with beard) c1749 pastel Musée d’Art de d’Histoire,
Geneva
54. Liotard Self-portrait with red cap c1768 pastel Musée d’Art de d’Histoire, Geneva
55. Liotard Self-portrait with hand on chin c1770 pastel Musée d’Art de d’Histoire, Geneva
56. Liotard View of Geneva from the artist’s house with self-portrait c1765 pastel private collection
Geneva
57. Liotard Self-portrait 1782 black and white chalk Musée d’Art de d’Histoire, Geneva
Reference:
www.pastellists.com (Free online edition of Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800 by Neil Jeffares.
Excellent .)
Christian Debrie and Xavier Salmon, Maurice-Quentin de La Tour. Prince des pastellistes , Paris
2000 (in French)
Anne de Herdt Dessins de Liotard exh cat Louvre/Geneva 1992 (in French)
La Tour Self-portrait c1750 pastel Musée de Picardie, Amiens
La Tour La marquise de Pompadour 1755 pastel Louvre
Liotard Frankish woman and her servant at a hammam c1742 pastel Musée d’Art de d’Histoire,
Geneva
Liotard Self-portrait (known as Liotard with beard) c1749 pastel Musée d’Art de d’Histoire, Geneva
21
43
34
53