Arts on the Green 2010 |
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What is Plein Air?
Plein air is French expression which means "in the open air", and is used to describe artists painting outdoors. Artists have long painted outdoors, but in the mid-19th century working in natural light became particularly important to the Barbizon school and the Impressionists. The popularity of painting en plein air increased in the 1870s with the introduction of paints in tubes, as opposed to the traditional method of artists grinding and mixing their own paints. This, as well as the invention of portable easels that included a built in palette, made the act of going into the country to paint on site much more feasible.
French Impressionist painters such as Monet, Pissarro, and Renoir encouraged en plein air painting, and much of their work was done outdoors, in the diffuse light provided by a large white umbrella. American Impressionists too, specifically those of the Old Lyme school, were avid painters en plein air.
A true plein air painting is done on location, capturing the atmosphere of the moment. It advocates the artist to trust his or her own vision in finding truth in nature. The majority of the painting must be completed on site with little to no work to be done in the studio. Most artists agree this is the true test of skill, as it requires complete confidence in placement of color and brushwork in a short amount of time. For example, a sunset may only last 30-40 minutes. That would be all the time the artist has to capture the scene.
The popularity of outdoor painting has endured throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century.