The Chocolate Girl
by LIOTARD, Étienne, Pastel on parchment, 82,5 x 52,5 cm
The summit of Liotard’s virtuosity as a pastellist is in the Chocolate Girl. Here the medium challenges the power of oil paint. Smooth as velvet in surface, and with its own bloom, pastel is made to simulate a gamut of textures and dazzling effects - of which the most brilliant is the glass of water on the tray the girl is holding.
This masterpiece of the artist was highly praised by the contemporaries for the perfect technique in use of the pastel.