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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-19th century
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
(resembling modern
toothpaste 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 Impressionists, too, such as those of the
Old Lyme school, were avid painters en plein air. American
Impressionist painters noted for this style during this era included,
Guy Rose,
Robert William Wood, Mary Denil Morgan, John Gamble, and
Arthur Hill Gilbert. The Canadian
Group of Seven and
Tom Thomson are examples of plein air advocates.
The popularity of outdoor painting has endured throughout the 20th
century and into the 21st century.
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