Lecture : Images of 18th-Century Europe

3rd THURSDAYS @ 3: Pastel Portraits: Images of 18th-Century Europe. By 1750, almost 2,500 professional artists and amateurs were working in pastel in Paris alone. Portraits in pastel were commissioned by all ranks of society, but most enthusiastically by the royal family, members of the court, and the wealthy middle classes. Eighteenth-century pastels are brightly colored, highly finished, often of large dimensions, and elaborately framed, evoking oil painting, the medium to which they were invariably compared. Pastel Portraits: Images of 18th-Century Europe, including some 40 pastels, will be on exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through August 14. Sponsored by the Art Advisory Council.