Editing En plein air

{{Short description|Act of painting outdoors}}
{{Italic title}}
[[File:Peinture de plein air.jpg|thumb|300px|''En plein air'' painter on the [[Côte d'Argent]] in [[Hourtin]], France]]

'''''En plein air''''' ({{IPA|fr|ɑ̃ plɛ.n‿ɛʁ|pron}}; [[French language|French]] for 'outdoors'), or plein-air<ref>Collins Australian Dictionary - the Foremost Authority on the language of today Harper Coliins. Pymble 2073, p 1246</ref> painting, is the act of [[painting]] outdoors.

This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting is credited to [[Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes]] (1750–1819), first expounded in a treatise titled ''Reflections and Advice to a Student on Painting, Particularly on Landscape'' (1800),<ref>Joshua Taylor (1989), Nineteenth Century Theories of Art, pages 246–7, University of California Press, USA. {{ISBN|0520048881}}</ref> where he developed the concept of landscape portraiture by which the artist paints directly onto canvas ''in situ'' within the landscape.

It enabled the artist to better capture the changing details of weather and light. The invention of portable canvases and easels allowed the practice to develop, particularly in France, and in the early 1830s the [[Barbizon School]] of painting in natural light was highly influential.<ref>Stephen Adams (1997),  The Barbizon School and the Origins of Impressionism, Phaidon Press, {{ISBN|978-0714836232}}</ref>

Amongst the most prominent features of this school were its tonal qualities, colour, loose brushwork, and softness of form. These were variants that were particularly relevant to the mid 19th-century [[Hudson River School]] and to [[Impressionism]].<ref>Bernard Denvir, (1990). The Thames and Hudson Encyclopaedia of Impressionism. London: Thames and Hudson. {{ISBN|0500202397}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Sargent MonetPainting.jpg|thumb|''[[Claude Monet]] Painting by the Edge of a Wood'' (1885) by [[John Singer Sargent]]. Oil on canvas. 54.0 × 64.8&nbsp;cm. [[Tate Gallery]], London.]]

Before the 19th century, artists had mixed their own paints from raw pigments that they often ground themselves from a variety of [[List of artistic media#Painting|media]]. This had made for inconvenient portability and kept most painting activities confined to the studio. However, in the 1830s, the Barbizon school in France that included [[Charles-François Daubigny]] and [[Théodore Rousseau]] used the practice of ''en plein air'' to depict the changing appearance of light accurately as weather conditions altered.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Auricchio |first=Laura |date=October 2004 |title=The Transformation of Landscape Painting in France |journal=Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History |url= https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/lafr/hd_lafr.htm}}</ref>

This situation improved later in the 1800s when tubes of oil paint became available, allowing ''En plein air'' painting to become viable for more artists. This was in part because of the invention of the collapsible paint tube in 1841 by American portraitist [[John G. Rand]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bird |first1=Michael |title=A Real Squeeze: Paint in Tubes |url=https://www.christies.com/features/14-Art-Media-Paint-in-Tubes-5840-1.aspx#:~:text=A%20real%20squeeze%3A%20Paint%20in%20tubes&text=In%201841%20an%20American%20portraitist,them%20instead%20from%20specialist%20colourmen. |website=Christie's |publisher=Christie's |access-date=20 April 2023}}</ref> 

In the early 1860s, four young painters: [[Claude Monet]], [[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]], [[Alfred Sisley]] and [[Frédéric Bazille]], met whilst studying under the academic artist [[Charles Gleyre]]. They discovered that they shared an interest in painting landscape and contemporary life, and they often ventured into the countryside together to paint in the open air.<ref>Harrison C White, Cynthia A. White (1993). Canvases and Careers: Institutional Change in the French Painting World. University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|0226894878}}</ref> They discovered that they could paint in sunlight directly from nature, and making use of the vivid synthetic pigments that were available, they began to develop a lighter and brighter manner of painting that extended further the [[Realism (arts)|Realism]] of [[Gustave Courbet]] and the Barbizon school.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Malafronte |first=Allison |date=October 2009 |title=The History of the ''Plein Air'' Movement |journal=American Artist |pages=20–24 |url= http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/43929615/history-plein-air-movement}}{{dead link|date=November 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> It was radical practise at its inception, but by the later decades of the 19th-century the theory had been absorbed into normal artistic practise.

There were artists' colonies across France, such as the one at [[Étaples]] on the Côte d'Opal that included landscape impressionists [[Eugène Chigot]] and [[Henri Le Sidaner]]. The latter artist specialised in translating [[nocturne (painting)|nocturne]] light to canvas using oil and pastel.<ref>Antoine Descheemaeker- Colle (2008), Eugène Chigot, Sa Vie, Son Oevre Peint, Editions Henri, France. {{ISBN|9782917698020}}</ref>

The [[Macchiaioli]] were a group of Italian painters active in Tuscany in the second half of the nineteenth century, who, breaking with the antiquated conventions taught by the Italian academies of art, did much of their painting outdoors in order to capture natural light, shade, and colour. This practice relates the Macchiaioli to the French Impressionists who came to prominence a few years later, although the Macchiaioli pursued somewhat different purposes. Their movement began in Florence in the late 1850s.

In England the [[Newlyn School]] was also a major proponent of the technique in the latter 19th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/newlyn-school.htm |title=Newlyn School, Landscape Painting Artist Colony, Cornwall: History, Artists, Stanhope Forbes, Frank Bramley |publisher=Visual-arts-cork.com |access-date=20 August 2010}}</ref> There were lesser known artist colonies practising, including a loose collective at Amberley in West Sussex centred around the Paris trained [[Edward Stott]] who produced atmospheric rural landscapes that were highly popular among some late Victorians.<ref>Valerie Webb (2018), Edward Stott (1855 – 1918):A Master of Colour and Atmosphere, Sansom & Company, Bristol, England. {{ISBN|9781911408222}}</ref>

The movement expanded to America, starting in California then moving to other American locales notable for their natural light qualities, including the Hudson River Valley in New York.

The act of outdoor painting from observation has been continually popular well into the 21st century.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adn.com/2010/06/05/1309330/artists-who-work-en-plein-air.html |title=Artists who work ''en plein air'' share their motivations: Arts |publisher=adn.com |date=6 June 2010 |access-date=20 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100808223036/http://www.adn.com/2010/06/05/1309330/artists-who-work-en-plein-air.html |archive-date=8 August 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://painting.about.com/od/landscapes/a/plein_air_paint.htm |title=Plein Air Painting - Painting Outside Plein Air |publisher=Painting.about.com |date=16 August 2010 |access-date=20 August 2010 |archive-date=2 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302002449/http://painting.about.com/od/landscapes/a/plein_air_paint.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Equipment and challenges ==
[[File:Robert Antoine Pinchon, 1898, painting Le chemin, oil on canvas, 22 x 32 cm.jpg|thumb|left|[[Robert Antoine Pinchon]], 1898, painting ''Le chemin'', oil on canvas, 22 × 32 cm]]
It was during the mid-19th century that the "box easel", typically known as the "French box easel" or "[[Easel#field|field easel]]", was invented. It is uncertain who developed it, but these highly portable easels with telescopic legs and built-in paint box and [[Palette (painting)|palette]] made it easier to go into the forest and up the hillsides.<ref>{{Cite web |title = Invention of box/ Field easel |url = http://artmovement.weebly.com/invention-of-box-field-easel.html |website = Realism & Impressionism |access-date = 2015-11-02}}</ref> Still made today, they remain a popular choice (even for home use) since they fold up to the size of a [[briefcase]] and thus are easy to store.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/pleinair/ |title=Plein Air |publisher=PBS |date=6 August 2007 |access-date=20 August 2010 |archive-date=22 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110822202637/http://www.pbs.org/pleinair/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Pochade Box is a compact box that allows the artist to keep all their supplies and palette within the box and have the work on the inside of the lid. Some designs allow for a larger canvas which can be held by clamps built into the lid. There are designs which can also hold a few wet painting canvases or panels within the lid.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.dickblick.com/pochade/boxes/| title = ''Pochade Boxes''}}</ref> These boxes have a rising popularity as while they are mainly used for ''plein air'' painting, they can also be used in the studio, home, or classroom. Since pochade boxes are mainly used for painting on location, the canvas or work surface may be small, usually not more than 20 inches (50&nbsp;cm).<ref>{{cite web |title=Pochade box |url=http://www.artworkessentials.com |website=Artwork Essentials |access-date=29 December 2016}}</ref>

Challenges include the type of paint used to paint outdoors, animals, bugs, onlookers, and environmental conditions such as weather. [[Acrylic paint]] may harden and dry quickly in warm, sunny weather, and it cannot be reused. On the opposite side of the spectrum is the challenge of painting in moist or damp conditions with precipitation. The advent of ''plein air'' painting predated the invention of acrylics. The traditional and well-established method of painting ''en plein air'' incorporates the use of oil paint.

== Advocates ==
[[File:Arthur Streeton Curlew Camp.jpg|thumb|[[Heidelberg School|Australian impressionist]] [[Arthur Streeton]] painting ''en plein air'', c. 1892]]
French impressionist painters such as [[Claude Monet]], [[Camille Pissarro]], [[Alfred Sisley]], and [[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]] advocated ''plein air'' painting, and much of their work was done outdoors in the diffuse light of a large white umbrella. Claude Monet was an avid ''en plein air'' artist who deduced that to seize the closeness and likeness of an outside setting at a specific moment one had to be outside to do so rather than just paint an outside setting in their studio.<ref>Kleiner, F. S., ''Gardner's Art Through the Ages (15th ed.), Boston, Cengage Learning, 1915</ref> In the second half of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th 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''.

In the late 19th century, ''plein air'' painting was not limited to the [[Old World]]. [[American Impressionism|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 DeNeale Morgan, John Gamble, and [[Arthur Hill Gilbert]]. In Australia in the 1880s and 1890s, [[Arthur Streeton]], [[Frederick McCubbin]], [[Tom Roberts]] and other members of the [[Heidelberg School]] of Australian impressionism were also committed ''plein airists''. In Canada in the 1920s, the [[Group of Seven (artists)|Group of Seven]] and [[Tom Thomson]] are examples of ''en plein air'' advocates.

==Notable artists (selected)==
<!--Please arrange alphabetically by surname-->
{{Div col|colwidth=12em}}
* [[Frédéric Bazille]]
* [[Henri Biva]]
* [[Ralph Wallace Burton]]
* [[Mary Cassatt]]
* [[Jack Cassinetto]]
* [[William Merritt Chase]]
* [[Eugène Chigot]]
* [[Robert Clunie]]
* [[John Constable]]
* [[Lovis Corinth]]
* [[William Didier-Pouget]]
* [[Rackstraw Downes]]
* [[Carl Eytel]]
* [[Francesco Filippini]]
* [[David Gallup]]
* [[Arthur Hill Gilbert]]
* [[Vincent van Gogh]]
* [[I. E. Grabar]]
* [[George Hetzel]]
* [[Winslow Homer]]
* [[George Inness]]
* [[Konstantin Korovin]]
* [[Henri Le Sidaner]]
* [[Isaac Levitan]]
* [[Theodore Lukits]]
* The [[Macchiaioli]]
* [[Marvin Mangus]]
* [[Frederick McCubbin]]
* [[Stanisław Masłowski]]
* [[Willard Metcalf]]
* [[Claude Monet]]
* [[Berthe Morisot]]
* [[Edgar Payne]]
* [[Robert Antoine Pinchon]]
* [[Camille Pissarro]]
* [[William Preston Phelps]]
* [[Vasily Polenov]]
* [[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]]
* [[Tom Roberts]]
* [[Guy Rose]]
* [[John Singer Sargent]]
* [[Alex Schaefer]]
* [[Valentin Serov]]
* [[Alfred Sisley]]
* [[Matthew Smith (painter)|Matthew Smith]]
* [[Joaquín Sorolla]]
* [[Edward Stott]]
* [[Arthur Streeton]]
* [[Anthony Thieme]]
* [[Tom Thomson]]
* [[Henry Scott Tuke]]
* [[Andrew Winter (artist)|Andrew Winter]]
* [[Robert William Wood]]
* [[Mary Agnes Yerkes]]{{Div col end}}

==Images==
<gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:Pigeon Point Lighthouse 2 .jpg|Artist working ''en plein air'', using a Pochade box at [[Pigeon Point Lighthouse]] in [[California]].
File:Plein Air Painters at Long Pond, Ringwood, NJ.JPG|''En plein air'' painters painting in [[Ringwood, New Jersey]]. Artists are using a French easel on the left of picture, and a Pochade box on the right.
File:Winslow Homer - Artists Sketching in the White Mountains.jpg|[[Winslow Homer]], ''Artists Sketching in the White Mountains'', 1868, oil on panel, 24.1 × 40.3&nbsp;cm, [[Portland Museum of Art]]
File:Camille Pissarro - Hameau aux environs de Pontoise (1872).jpg|[[Camille Pissarro]], 1872, ''Hameau aux environs de Pontoise'', oil on canvas, 54 × 74&nbsp;cm, private collection
File:Henri BIVA, ca 1905-06, Matin à Villeneuve, Salon 1906 postcard - original painting, oil on canvas, 151.1 x 125.1 cm, private collection.jpeg|[[Henri Biva]], c.1905–06, ''[[Matin à Villeneuve|Matin à Villeneuve (From Waters Edge)]]'', oil on canvas, 151.1 × 125.1&nbsp;cm
File:Claude Monet - In the Woods at Giverny- Blanche Hoschedé at Her Easel with Suzanne Hoschedé Reading - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Claude Monet]], 1887, ''In the Woods at Giverny, [[Blanche Hoschedé Monet]] at Her Easel with [[Suzanne Hoschedé]] Reading'', oil on canvas, 91.4 x 97.7&nbsp;cm, [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art]]
File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Mount of Sainte-Victoire - 1980.12.14 - Yale University Art Gallery.jpg|[[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]], c.1888-89 ''Mount of Sainte-Victoire'', oil on canvas, 53 x 64.1&nbsp;cm, [[Yale University Art Gallery]]
File:La Montagne Sainte-Victoire vue de la carrière Bibémus, par Paul Cézanne.jpg|[[Paul Cézanne]], c.1897, ''La Montagne Sainte-Victoire vue de la carrière Bibémus'', oil on canvas, 65.1 × 81.3&nbsp;cm, [[Baltimore Museum of Art]]
File:Walkthearts mon-ste-victoire.jpg|alt=painting Montagne Sainte-Victoire with walkthearts|Painting Cézanne's mountain > Montagne Sainte-Victoire with Walk The Arts
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Art colony|Art colonies]]
* [[Heidelberg School]]
* [[Urban Sketchers]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Painting en plein air}}
*The Virtual Art Academy Guide to [https://www.virtualartacademy.com/pochade-box/ Pochade Boxes] and [https://www.virtualartacademy.com/plein-air-easel/ Plein Air Easels]

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[[Category:Artistic techniques]]
[[Category:Landscape art by school]]
[[Category:Painting]]