Sennelier

Sennelier, a French manufacturer of art supplies, is renowned for their high quality hand selected pigments. They produce oil paints, watercolour, gouache, mediums, paper as well as soft pastels and oil pastels. Gustav Sennelier, a chemist, opened the doors of Maison Sennelier in 1887. Facing the Louvre and around the corner from the École des Beaux Arts, the store became the place to be for many of our most celebrated artists. Sennelier’s expertise and passion for colour attracted the likes of Cézanne, Monet, Picasso, Gaugin, Soutine and many more. Gustav initially created a range of 100 oil colours and later watercolour and egg tempera. Sennelier’s famous extra-soft pastels “à l’écu” were favoured by Degas and have evolved into the largest range of pastel shades on the market. Their exquisite quality is down to their exceptional pigment quality, hand preparation and air drying to prevent brittleness. In 1947 Pablo Picasso approached Henri Sennelier, Gustav’s son, to create a new medium that he could apply to any surface without prior preparation. He wanted a stick of colour that he could apply easily, that would go on thickly and wasn’t powdery. Thanks to Picasso and Sennelier we now have the gorgeous, creamy, highly pigmented Sennelier Oil Pastel.

Sennelier produces beautiful art materials for artists. Their pastels in particular are respected and loved by artists worldwide. Pullingers stock the full range of 120 Sennelier Oil Pastels in singles and offer great prices on both Oil Pastel and Extra Soft Pastel Box Sets including luxury wooden pastel gift sets. We also stock the Sennelier Oil Pastel Pad and the very popular La Carte Pastel Board Pad which has a unique soft tooth ideal for pastels. As a pastel artist you can’t beat Sennelier.

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