2-726-053 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Claire Campbell, 1882. During the late 1870s, Manet turned increasingly to pastel when ill health prevented him from painting in oil. A confident draftsman, he composed pastels without any reliance on underdrawing; each stroke provided both line and colour. The palette here is limited to his favorite colours: blue, white, gray, and black. He exploited the medium’s velvety texture to describe this sitter’s glossy black chignon and petal-pink skin. He hardly ever specified his backgrounds, giving them only one colour, as seen in this example.