Invitation to a press conference "Rosalba Carriera. Perfection in Pastel"

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MI

The portraitist was one of the first female artists to rise to success throughout Europe. Some 150 works will be on display in the Winckelmann Forum in the Semperbau, many from the SKD’s inventory.

With 73 pastels, the SKD has the world’s biggest set of works by the Venetian artist. Under Augustus III, the gallery had more than twice as many pieces by Carriera in its holdings. In 1746, an intimate gallery space was even set up for her pastels near the Frauenkirche and named after her.

At the time, pastel was still considered a relatively new genre. Carriera played a major role in winning admiration for the technique. The many portraits of princes from Europe’s ruling dynasties shows how popular the artist was. A visit to her studio was also a regular stop on the Grand Tour of the many travellers visiting Italy, but she also painted writers, musicians and dancers from her home town of Venice.

Rosalba Carriera’s pastels bear testimony to Rococo ideals of beauty, characterised by cosmetics made from white powder: pale, smooth skin, powdered hair and wigs. Faces, clothes and hairstyles are realistically reproduced in the powdery surfaces of the paintings. In cooperation with the degree programme in theatre design and make-up at the Academy of Fine Arts, Dresden, a film project saw students making creative use of powder and pigments.

Carriera began her artistic career by painting miniatures, the genre that led the Accademia di San Luca in Rome to welcome her as a member in 1705. Few women were granted that great honour, especially as they were long prevented from getting an academic education. The Accademia Clementina in Bologna also took her in as a member, in 1720, followed a year later by the Académie Royale in Paris.

The exhibition starts out by taking visitors on a trip to Venice, built on its lagoon, with views of the Canal Grande, where Rosalba Carriera lived. They also encounter typical products from the decorative arts, such as glass, lace or fine cloth. Not only portraits are on display, but also selected paintings of the saints by Carriera. The backs of some paintings are also presented, on which can be seen the little notes with pictures of the Three Kings that were attached in Venice, seeking their protection on the artworks’ dangerous trip to Dresden. Pastels are extremely sensitive to even the slightest shocks; documentation on two restored works shows the damage that threatens these fragile pieces. Finally, the display addresses the 83 works that have been lost for various reasons, such as being stolen, sold or destroyed in the Second World War.

Loans from other SKD collections add to the presentation – primarily the Kupferstich-Kabinett and Kunstgewerbemuseum – as do others by national and international museums such as Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, the Tansey Miniatures Foundation at the Bomann Museum in Celle, Rijksprentenkabinet Amsterdam, Gallerie degli Uffizi in Florence, Accademia di San Luca in Rome and several private collections.

Parallel to the show, a compact, intimate exhibition entitled “Out of the Shadows. Women Artists from the 16th to the 18th Century” examines until 20 August 2023 some of the other female artists who have, on the whole, stood in the shadows of the great, mainly male names of art history. Many were the daughters of famous masters; trained in their fathers’ studios, they were able to hold their ground in this male-dominated profession. Works are presented by Lavinia Fontana, Marietta Robusti, known as La Tintoretta, Theresa Concordia Maron, née Mengs and Angelika Kaufmann.

To accompany the exhibition, the catalogue “Rosalba Carriera. Perfection in Pastel” will be published by Sandstein-Verlag. Edited by Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Roland Enke and Stephan Koja. 280 pages, 220 illustrations, mostly in colour, hardback, €44.