MUSEUM QUEST
It’s been almost two years (yes, two years!) since we last took your children to a real museum as part of our famous Museum Quest program. While the online version of the program has been very successful since the beginning of the year and allowed us to visit exhibitions and historical sites around the world, we were eager to meet you again for in-person visits!
Pastels from Renaissance to the Present
Event Overview
On Sunday, November 7, pastel art will be celebrated through the exhibition Color Into Line: Pastels from Renaissance to the Present. The Legion of Honor fine arts museum in San Francisco will offer a selection of masterpieces drawn in pastel and invites you to discover this material through the centuries and artists such as Rosalba Carriera, a Venetian painter of the rococo style who launched the fashion for pastel in France when she visited Paris in 1720, French artist Edgar Degas, one of the founding members of impressionism, or Jean-Baptiste Perronneau, a French painter, engraver and pastellist known for his portraits.
Through this impressive selection, the museum offers us an exclusive rendezvous with the splendors of pastel, discovering a medium used in different forms and which has allowed all kinds of experimentation, with its grace and the purity of its colors. From the Renaissance to the present day, the exhibition highlights the technical aspects while insisting on the process of conception of the works.
At EFBA, we strongly believe that taking children to the museum allows them to:
- Associate a cultural visit with a positive experience that they will want to repeat when they grow up!
- Better capture their attention by being in front of real and authentic works of art that have a thousand stories to tell;
- Better anchor their newly acquired knowledge: while for some it is enough to listen memorize, others need to see and physically experience to better integrate the knowledge;
- Spend a privileged moment together, as a family, with friends, between children and adults, and thus create essential bonds for their development.
Teaching Objectives
Through this outing, participants will:
- Discover what pastel is and why it has been so popular among artists.
- Understand the techniques and forms of pastel since the Renaissance.
- Learn to recognize great names in art such as Rosalba Giovanna Carriera, Mary Cassatt, Edgar Degas, and Jean-Baptiste Perronneau.
Cultural Point:
Rosalba Carriera was born in 1675 in Chioggia, Italy, and died in 1757 in Venice. She was a Venetian painter who launched the fashion for pastels in France during her stay in Paris. She started to paint pastel portraits at a young age. Her portraits were very successful in Venice with British tourists.
In 1720, she went to Paris and joined the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. The success of her miniatures was such that she was forced to refuse many requests. The fashion for pastels in France was launched and it was from this moment on that Rosalba Carriera’s true notoriety was born.
Her pastels, which she started with pen and stone sketches, are widely known as well as her miniatures. After 1747, she became blind and her activity diminished.
Rosalba Carriera
Neither Drawing Nor Painting: What is Pastel?
Pastels are mostly sticks made of pigments for color, a filler for texture (usually chalk or plaster) and an inert binder to hold it all together (gum arabic for dry pastels, and oil or wax for oil pastel). The sticks can be of different shapes and lengths.
It was most likely invented in France and Italy in the 15th century.
The technique of pastel – captivating because of its texture and colors – allows a great speed of execution and expresses a great stylistic variety, from the simple sketch to the large and very colorful works. Pastel is halfway between drawing and painting.
Pastels have been very popular since the 17th century, thanks to their vivid colors and their ability to faithfully imitate textiles, textures and light. For its qualities, it is very often used in the art of portraiture. Many artists, like Rosalba Carriera, use it.
In the eighteenth century, it was in its golden age, but shortly after the French Revolution it fell into disuse in favor of oil painting.
However, it continues to be used and pursues its evolution thanks to the Impressionists like Edgar Degas. However, around 1950, the pastel technique seems to have practically disappeared.
During the years 1965-1970, the French artist Pierre Risch decided to revive pastel by organizing exhibitions and conferences aimed at a large public; he collaborated with manufacturers to develop a new range of dry pastels.
Due to its dual nature of drawing and painting, pastel became a favorite medium of artists of the 20th century, like Salvador Dalí, who pushed the medium to a new realm of possibility by experimenting with unprecedented gestural and chromatic freedom.
DETAILS
When: Sunday, November 7, 2021, 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. PST
Schedule of the event
- 9:00 am: arrival of families in front of the museum (Lincoln Park, 100 34th Avenue, San Francisco)
- 9:30 am to 11 am : visit of the exhibition
- 11:05 am : families pick up their child(ren)
Who: Children ages 6-14 with prior knowledge of French (2 years minimum). Assessment required for students not enrolled in a 2021-2022 EFBA program. (Book your appointment)
To join us, participants should be able to:
- Express himself/herself clearly and comfortably in French.
- Easily understand the main ideas in a conversation on a range of topics.
Questions about your child’s level? Email admissions@efba.us before registration.
During the visit, you will need:
- Comfortable clothes
- That’s it!
Only 9 spots available, so register today!
REGISTRATION
Children with EFBA Scholarship
EFBA Students
General Admission
Save as PDF