As with all materials made by Sennelier , these soft pastels are carefully, intricately made using only the finest, most vibrant materials available. Amazingly soft, bright & lightfast, along with bring naturally water-soluble. Developed in 1900, these are still made today using the same traditional methods; hand-formed with a natural transparent binder & air-dried rather than compressed. Famously created for Edgar Degas, these were used subsequently by Cézanne, Gauguin, Modigliani & Monet .