Location: Urban Plein Air Discussion Forum

Discussion: Plein Air-the boring versionReported This is a featured thread

Showing 1 post
ArtisticOne
ArtisticOne
Plein Air-the boring version
Feb 2 2008, 2:32 PM EST | Post edited: Feb 2 2008, 2:32 PM EST
En plein air the boring version
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
En plein air is a French expression which means "in the open air", and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.

Artists have long painted outdoors, but in the mid-1800s working in natural light became particularly important to the Barbizon school and Impressionism. The popularity of painting en plein air increased in the 1870s with the introduction of paints in tubes. Previously, each painter made their own paints by grinding and mixing dry pigment powders with linseed oil. The Newlyn School in England is considered another major proponent of the technique in the latter 19th century.
It was during this period that the "Box Easel", typically known as the French Box Easel, was invented. It is uncertain who developed it first, but these highly portable easels, with telescopic legs and built-in paint box and palette, made treks into the forest and up the hillsides less onerous. Still made today, they remain a popular choice even for home use since they fold up to the size of a brief case and thus are easy to store.
French Impressionist painters such as Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir advocated en plein air painting, and much of their work was done outdoors, in the diffuse light provided by a large white umbrella. In the second half of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century in Russia, painters such as Vasily Polenov, Isaac Levitan, Valentin Serov, Konstantin Korovin and I.E. Grabar were known for painting en plein air. American Impressionist painters noted for this style during this era included, Guy Rose, Mary Denil Morgan, John Gamble, and Arthur Hill Gilbert. The Canadian Group of Seven originated by Tom Thomson and artist Sherie Sloane are examples of plein air advocates.
The popularity of outdoor painting has endured throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century.
1  out of 1 found this valuable. Do you?    
Keyword tags: definition history Plein air

Sign in to be the first to reply.

Related Content

  (what's this?Related ContentThanks to keyword tags, links to related pages and threads are added to the bottom of your pages. Up to 15 links are shown, determined by matching tags and by how recently the content was updated; keeping the most current at the top. Share your feedback on Wetpaint Central.)