Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Sennelier Extra-Soft Pastels “à l’écu”

Sennelier Extra-Soft Pastels “à l’écu”


The three French brands of pastels, that I know of, are all color-centric. I love that focus. The three are Henri Roche, Pastels Girault, and Sennelier. In this second of my series on pastel brands, we will inspect the renowned Sennelier.

Chemist Gustave Sennelier founded in 1887 what would become the premier artist's paint resource of France. His store front was strategically placed within spitting distance of Paris' great museum and academy, the Louvre and the École des Beaux Arts. Of course, the Maison Sennelier faces the Left Bank of the Seine River, and Gustave's paint lab became eventually "the" place for the Avante-Garde of Impressionism.

Fine colors were purveyed to the likes of Cézanne, Degas, Gauguin, Monet, Bonnard, Soutine, Picasso, Modigliani, Kandinsky, Dali, van Gogh. If the walls of his storied Maison could only speak, how they would celebrate the conversations shared by these giants! The artists interacted with Sennelier in order to fulfill their needs for new colors.

Next posts: Details and critique.





2 comments:

Lisa B. said...

I haven't had the pleasure of using a Roche or a Girault yet, but I do love my Sennies. Great minds must think alike, because I posted a review today. You're welcome to read it, but I should warn you, I write for elementary school readers. ;)

Casey Klahn said...

I haven't used the Roche, either. And, now that I make my own sticks, I can just mix one big stick of (nearly) pure color if I like. Especially with me blues.
My review will be posted in the next couple of days, but I will link yours, Lisa.