conté crayon and Conté Crayon - The common name and the trademark or brand name for a drawing medium comparable to colored chalk. The manufacturer labels each stick "Conté a Paris."
Conté 
crayons are available in several colors. Although boxes of 
assorted colors are available, several colors have been popularly sold in quantity. Most common are 
red-brown (called sanguine, French for blood), dark-brown (called bistre), black, grays, and white (pictured below).
(pr. KAHN-tay KRAY-on)
Examples of drawings made with conté crayon:
Léopold Boilly (French, 1761-1845), Grimacing Man (Self-Portrait), c. 1822-23, conté crayons on paper, collection of Karen B. Cohen. See caricature, expression, and Neoclassicism.
Georges Seurat (French 1859-1891), Stone Breakers, Le Raincy, c. 1881, conté crayon on paper, 12 1/8 x 14 3/4 inches (30.8 x 37.5 cm), Museum of Modern Art, NY. See gradation and Neo-Impressionism.
Georges Seurat, Study for 'Les Poseuses', c. 1887, conté crayon on paper, 11 11/16 x 8 7/8 inches (29.7 x 22.5 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.
Harrison Fisher (American, 1877-1934), Zelda Fitzgerald (1900-1947), sanguine conté crayon on paperboard, 1927, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC. Zelda was the wife of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Fernando Casas (Bolivian-American, 1946-), La Palabra Esencial, 1986, sanguine conté crayon on paper, 58 x 84 inches (147 x 213 cm). See oil pastel.fercasas@rice.edu
Jason Gathorne-Hardy (British, contemporary), Study of Sow's Head II, Iken, Suffolk, 2002, conté crayon on paper, 15.2 x 20.3 cm (6 x 8 inches), sold by Redfern Gallery in 2004.
- The articles on conté crayon and other dry media in Drawing Materials and Drawing Techniques, a Guide and Glossary by Michael Miller.
Also see crayon, sepia, and stump.
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