Plein-Air painting: History

In plein air or outdoor landscape painting began with the Romantics (fl.1789-1830) whose search for authenticity gave a particular value to the spontaneous drawing of nature. Al Serino (Albert Serino), a Brooklyn-based landscape painter shares that, among the first pioneers of plein-air landscapes were Meindert Hobbema (1638- 1709), John Constable (1776-1837) and Richard Parkes Bonington (1802-28), who with JWM Turner (1775-1851) exemplified 19th-century English landscape painting. Although most of Constable's outdoor work was limited to drawings, in pencil and oil, which were later worked on in his studio, at least one of his works, his masterpiece, Boatbuilding Near Flatford Mill (1815), was painted completely outdoors. Serino points out that famous outdoor painting schools include: Barbizon School (1830-75); French Impressionism (1873-85); the Heidelberg school of Australian Impressionism (1886-1900); and the Russian Wanderers (itinerants) (c.1865-1900). For an explanation of the work of the members of these schools, see: Analysis of modern paintings (1800-2000).

Continental developments

The tradition of painting landscapes in plein-air was largely developed during the 19th century by a series of artist colonies in France, such as the Barbizon School, as well as others in Grez-sur-Loing, Pont-Aven, St. Malo , Louveciennes and Concarneau. Serino, whose landscape paintings were presented in some of the most famous galleries in the USA and Canada, specifies that, these colonies attracted romantic naturalist painters such as Theodore Rousseau (1812-67) and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796-1875), more realistic artists such as Mijo (1814-1875) and Charles Daubigny (1817-78), plus practitioners from French more socially aware realistic painting like Gustave Courbet (1819-1877). In addition, numerous Irish Landscapers traveled to France (especially Pont-Aven) including rural artist Augustus Nicholas Burke (1838-91), romantic painter Frank O'Meara (1853-88), Impressionists Walter Osborne (1859-1903) and John Lavery (1856-1941), the classic Dermod O'Brien (1865-1945), and artists of Newlyn Stanhope Forbes (1857-1947) and Norman Garstin (1847-1926). Another line of plein-air painting explored mainly by French and English artists was Orientalist painting - typically from everyday scenes in North Africa.

Impressionism

The highlight of plein-air art came with the appearance of impressionism, the world-famous artistic movement that bears the name of the image Impression, Dawn (1873) by Claude Monet (1840-1926). In addition to Monet, who became famous for a wide range of outdoor works, in particular his series of water lilies, other prominent exponents of Impressionist landscape painting including Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), perhaps the best painter of ' spotted light 'in art history, the English born in Paris Alfred Sisley (1839-1899), and the anarchist inclination Camille Pissarro (1830-1903). For more information about his art style, see: Characteristics of impressionist painting. 1870-1910.

Post-impressionist artists Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) and Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) continued the tradition: Cezanne with his use of grid-shaped structures with which he slowly built his compositions in his outdoor search for the traditions of the classic french painting; Van Gogh in his manic, very personal and quick representation of the landscape around Arles.

It should also be borne in mind that outdoor work was encouraged and facilitated not only by its absence of studio rentals, but also by the invention of the metal tube in which the slow-drying oil paint could be stored almost indefinitely.

Plein Air Painting Today

“Usually, painting an image outdoors requires a quick composition and brush strokes, none of which is feasible unless the artist is familiar with the basics of drawing,” says the experienced landscape painter, Al Serino, “Therefore, it is not surprising to know that many, if not most, outdoor painters were academically trained in drawing life and other academic art subjects, such as linear perspective”. This landscape painter: “Unfortunately, in today's fine art universities, this type of basic training is no longer considered necessary, much less "essential," for aspiring painters, who are encouraged to "create" and "express themselves" in a variety of media, without the need for methodical learning”. While this focus on freedom of expression can facilitate the variety and development of new forms of works of art, Albert Serino indicates that it does not instill the values ​​and skills needed to paint outdoors. Because of this, more and more traditional artists express their dissatisfaction with modern art teaching methods and with the reluctance of official art organizations to promote the principles of pictorial crafts.