Edgar Degas (1834–1917)Woman Bathing, 1886, Pastel on paper, 27 1/2 × 27 1/2 in (70 × 70 cm)
EVERY MEDIUM HAS AREAS IN WHICH IT EXCELS
The “area of competence” is the range of usefulness of a particular medium. The idea is that certain kinds of expression are more suited to one medium than another. Thus, marble is excellent for making sculptures that explore volume and figural representation but is not much good for expressing color relationships. Silverpoint is perfect for making delicate and precise drawings but is not suited to making powerful expressionist works. It follows that the selection of a particular medium for a particular task is an important decision and can greatly affect the success of an artistic enterprise. The decision by Edgar Degas (1834–1917) to abandon oil painting and work in pastel enabled him to transfer the fine qualities of his drawing into a colored medium, obtaining results that would have been impossible in oil.
A poor decision about choice of mediums can lead to disastrous results. The most famous example is the decision by Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) to use tempera rather than true fresco for his painting of the Last Supper at Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. He wanted to transfer the delicate layered rendering of his easel paintings to the large scale of the wall and didn’t want to deal with the fast drying time of fresco. Unfortunately, the paint immediately began to flake and peel.
Sometimes positive results can come from forcing one medium into another area of competence. The photorealist painters of the 1960s and ’70s, for example, transferred the ability of the photograph to make a perfect mechanical rendering to the medium of painting. In effect, they spent months doing what the camera can do in less than a second. This brought to light new ideas about what painting is and might be. It also called into question the nature of artistic agency by presenting the artist as merely equivalent to a machine.
Edgar Degas (1834–1917)
Woman Bathing, 1886, Pastel on paper, 27 1/2 × 27 1/2 in (70 × 70 cm)
The area of competence of pastel is to allow the combination of linear drawing with the layering of rich color. This perfectly suited Degas’s style and needs.
