Easter Eggs -- Symbols of the Resurrection in Pastel Colors

Easter Eggs

Persian Egg, Etsy

Easter is the time of year when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Easter egg symbolizes the empty place from which Jesus emerged following his crucifixion and ultimate entombment. Other cultures have decorated eggs as a form of celebrating the Spring equinox, during which the Persian New Year (Nowruz) falls, for example. Themes of fertility, rebirth, and new life are also common in English, Germanic, and other European cultures.

Do you know why Easter eggs are traditionally dyed in pastel colors? Pale yellow symbolizes the resurrection, pink for the blood of Christ, lavender for the joy that Mary Magdalene and the other women felt when they saw the tomb was empty, and sky blue is a reminder of Christ's love.

Roger Moore,
Octopussy's Bond

So, how is this relative to art? Decorating eggs can be a fun art activity for young and old. Let's not forget the sought-after bejeweled Fabergé egg that belonged to the imperial family of Russia and was auctioned off in Ian Fleming's Bond classic, Octopussy. And by definition, the period of history (14th thru 16th centuries) known as the Renaissance was entirely dedicated to rebirth. One of the most famous artists and the architect of the Spanish Renaissance was Greek painter and sculptor, El Greco.

European Religious Art

Christ Blessing
('The Saviour of the World')
(ca. 1600), El Greco

British Sister Wendy (Beckett), one of the foremost art historians of the 20th Century, was particularly enamored by the art of Diego Velazquez, Francisco Goya, and El Greco. I used to watch her somewhat quirky TV special presentations and happily own one of her books, Sister Wendy's Grand Tour, Discovering Europe's Great Art. which includes highlights of her privileged trip to the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain. Someday, I would love to visit.

And Jesus was the subject of over a dozen religious works by El Greco. I don't recall seeing this particular painting while in Edinburgh, though it is apparently on display at the Scottish National Gallery. Christ is a common subject in many paintings, including those of Raphael, Bellini, and of course Leonardo da Vinci.

Salvator Mundi (ca. 1500), da Vinci

The famous Salvator Mundi painting of Jesus, often attributed to da Vinci, fetched a whopping $450 Million in 2017. It is one of a few surviving works from a private collection. I show it here because both artists depicted Christ in a similar pose with his left hand on a sphere (not an egg!). Personally, I prefer El Greco's!!

Pieta (1576), Titian

Probably the most recognizable image of the dead Christ is Michelangelo's marble statue of the Pieta, created in 1498-99 and residing in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City. While in Rome in May 2011 the lines were too long to visit St. Peter's. Both Michelangelo and Titian influenced El Greco, and all three created such portraits of Mother Mary and Jesus. Titian's Pieta was his final painting and includes his self-portrait as the old man in red holding the hand of the dead Christ.

Pastels -- The Renaissance & Beyond

It turns out that pastels as an art medium originated during the late Renaissance. Artists like Michelangelo and da Vinci used chalk mainly for sketching and they were initially only available in black, white, and red.

It wasn't until the mid-18th century that pastels were taken seriously by professional painters. Now, let's explore the works of three of the most famous artists who used pastels.

Mary Cassatt

Mother and Child (1914), Mary Cassatt

Continuing with the mother and child theme, here is a beautiful pastel painting by American portrait and figure artist Mary Cassatt (1844–1926). I love the color scheme and the fine blue strokes that subtly add shading to her figures. I'd love to see this one in person. Even the background is interesting and appears to marry together many of the colors, and contrasts nicely with the warm tones used on her subjects.

Edgar Degas

Four Ballerinas on the Stage (1885-90), Degas

French artist Edgar Degas is most famous for painting ballet dancers and occasionally portraits of friends and jockeys and their horses. He often used black outlines on his figures and was less concerned with facial details, leaving his impressions largely to the posing and positioning of his dancers. The contrasting orange tutu and the lines created by the dancers' arms keep our eyes focused on the three dancers in the middle, even though the blue figure is truncated. The patch of blue in the scenery serves to balance out her blue skirt, creating more diagonal movement.

Jean-François Millet

Shepherdess and Her Flock
(1864-65), Millet

When teaching elementary school-age children about French realist Jean-François Millet, I usually show The Gleaners (1857), one of his most famous works depicting peasant life. This pastel work, though less colorful, has a softness and peacefulness about it that I appreciate. Its atmospheric effect makes it hard to tell the time of day. Let's assume that the woman has led her sheep to pasture for an early morning breakfast.

Man with a Hoe (1860-62),
Jean-François Millet

In my pastels class taught to adults at Franke Tobey Jones' Senior University, we did pastel landscapes the first day, then switched to trying a more limited palette on the second day. I wish I had used these two pastel paintings by Millet as examples for my classes.

Untitled

One of my adult students completed this drawing of a reclining kitten. Her adaptation is reminiscent of the Millet (above) with its use of white pastel as an accent. Note how both artists made use of paper that was already a color (not white) and allows the background to peek through the black/brown and white pastel strokes. Very impressionistic kitty!

My Degas Recreation

As a demo for my pastels class, I did a copy of Degas' Ballerina and Lady With a Fan (1885) to show many of the various strokes one can use. The purple paper provided the perfect underpainting and my smudges served as shadows under the dancers' white legs. Don't forget that many artists, including Van Gogh, liked to copy the works of artists who preceded them, for example, artists such as Millet and various Japanese artists.

Bryce and Friends (2021), Ken Patterson

I really enjoyed painting my dog, Bryce, and his friends playing at a California dog park. It challenged me to use small strokes of light blue, browns and grays to emulate the rocks, including the shadows created by the trees. It reminds me of Georges Seurat, the famous French Post- or Neo-Impressionist who used Pointillism (a.k.a. Divionism or Chromoluminarism) to create light effects in his paintings. Seurat and Signac pioneered their technique in Paris in the mid-1880s. Seurat died at the young age of 31 of unknown causes in 1891, leaving his painting, The Circus, unfinished.