Pastels from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

The exhibition Color into Line: Pastels from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and California Collections offers a fresh understanding of the art of pastel. With the appearance of a painting, the immediacy of a drawing, and the timeless matte finish of an ancient fresco, pastel is one of the most versatile mediums and adaptable techniques used throughout art history. Told through a selection of eighty works, the exhibition spans five centuries, from the early Renaissance to the present day, showing masterpieces by Rosalba Carriera, Mary Cassatt, Edgar Degas, John Altoon, and Wayne Thiebaud, among other artists. Highlighting technical aspects and the design process behind the works, the exhibition is drawn primarily from the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, the department of works on paper at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and supplemented with selected works from key Bay Area public and private art collections. Color into Line provides audiences a rare opportunity to appreciate the artistry of pastel through local works not usually on public view.