The Pastellists

The Pastellists was an organization of artists that formed in New York at the end of 1910 for the purpose of exhibiting artwork produced in the medium of pastel. The group helped organize four exhibitions in New York between 1910 and 1914 before disbanding in 1915. Some Pastellist members are credited with the initial idea for the exhibition that later became the 1913 Armory Show, the first major exhibition of European modernism in America.

Many artists worked in pastel but few organizations were promoting or including pastel works in their annual exhibitions. The exhibit at the Rand School, organized by Leon Dabo in 1909 and the Exhibition of Independent Artists, organized by Robert Henri, in 1910, had fostered a desire among artists to present more personal work and exhibit irrespective of the expectations of conservative organizations like the National Academy. That year, Dabo became leader of The Pastellists.

A diary kept by the secretary/treasurer of the Pastellists, artist Elmer Livingston MacRae, records the activities of the young group during their first two exhibitions. The president was Leon Dabo and the Board of Control included Jerome Myers, Everett Shinn, and Juliet Thompson. Mr. Dabo engaged his lawyer and artist friend Henry Wellington Wack to draw up the papers for incorporation, which were agreed upon at a members meeting on February 15, 1911. There are no known records by MacRae or other artists of the member meetings or the later exhibitions.

The first two exhibitions, were held at the Folsom Galleries and according to the MacRae diaries, met with good reviews and high attendance. The New York Times said the second show "surpasses in interest its predecessor, which certainly was sufficiently charming." A "striking and important" work was L'enfant a l'orange by Mary Cassatt; Big Wave Design by Arthur Bowen Davies had "vigor and free handling, with the addition of a feeling for great rhythms".

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