Nicolas Party Mural Riffs on Rosalba Carriera at the Frick

Nicolas Party b. 1980, Switzerland Follow +

A spectacular pastel mural by Nicolas Party covers three walls in the Italian Galleries of New York’s Frick Madison.

The work, which consists of two additional portraits and folds of various fabrics, responds to Rosalba Carriera’s Portrait of a Man in Pilgrim’s Costume (ca. 1730).

Carriera, who was born in Venice 350 years ago, is credited with binding coloured chalk in sticks for ready use, an invention that led to a wider range of prepared colours, and helping to launch the Rococo style.

‘When I first fell in love with pastels, some ten years ago, my research quickly led me to the queen of pastel, Rosalba,’ Party said in a statement.

‘Her practice and love for the powdery sticks increased the popularity of the medium and were crucial to the development of the art form. I felt a powerful attraction to her pastels. Today, I like to think our approaches might not be all that different,’ Party said.

Party began exploring pastels in 2013 when he saw Picasso’s Tête de Femme (1921).

In 2019, he organised the exhibition Pastel at the FLAG Art Foundation in New York. He created four pastel murals as a response to works by artists including Carriera and Edgar Degas (1834-1917) that also served as a backdrop for works by living artists such as Loie Hollowell, Julian Martin, Chris Ofili, and Robin F. Williams.

The mural Nicolas Party and Rosalba Carriera will remain on view at Frick Madison through 3 March 2024. —[O]

Main image: Exhibition view: Nicolas Party and Rosalba Carriera, Frick Madison, New York (1 June 2023–3 March 2024). Photo: Joseph Coscia Jr.