Student Response:
Blog: En Plein Air: Painting in the Open Air (August 2023)
While the practice of plein air painting goes back centuries, it was truly French Impressionists, like Claude Monet and Alfred Sisley, who made an art form of leaving behind the four walls of their studio and painting outdoors. En plein air or plein air painting, is the act of painting outdoors. Painting directly with their subject, the landscape around them, artists were more able to capture the changing details of weather and light that happens over the course of a day. Many also felt it allowed for a much more realistic image, versus painting a landscape from photographs or memory. Plein air painting did include several challenges for artists. From animals and bugs to onlookers and environmental conditions precipitation, a number of newly invented tools made the act of painting outdoors much easier for artists.
During the mid-19th century, the ‘box easel’ or ‘field easel’ was invented. While it is uncertain who developed it, the telescopic legs and built in paint box and palette made the easel highly portable. Many designs also had enough room built into the lids to hold wet canvases.
Not only did the outdoors effect conditions for the artist, but also their materials. Artists previously ground each pigment for their paints by hand, carefully mixing the binding oil in proper proportions. After the modern paint tub was invented in 1841 by painter John Goffe Rand, paints could be produced in bulk and sold in tin tubes with a cap. The cap allowed paints to be preserved and contained, allowing flexibility and efficiency to painting outdoors.
Plain air painting has had a resurgence in the past decade, with many artists taking their canvases outside to paint in nature. The local Michigan Plein-Air Painters organization brings artists together to enjoy the challenges and pleasures of painting on location throughout Michigan. Its members encourage each other to step outside the solitary confines of a studio, and to paint and create artwork together outdoors.
The GVSU Art Gallery has several works of art in the collection that were created by artists who worked en plein air, accurately capturing the likeness of the landscapes they surrounded themselves in.
Read the full blog here.
While the practice of plein air painting goes back centuries, it was truly French Impressionists, like Claude Monet and Alfred Sisley, who made an art form of leaving behind the four walls of their studio and painting outdoors. En plein air or plein air painting, is the act of painting outdoors. Painting directly with their subject, the landscape around them, artists were more able to capture the changing details of weather and light that happens over the course of a day. Many also felt it allowed for a much more realistic image, versus painting a landscape from photographs or memory. Plein air painting did include several challenges for artists. From animals and bugs to onlookers and environmental conditions precipitation, a number of newly invented tools made the act of painting outdoors much easier for artists.
During the mid-19th century, the ‘box easel’ or ‘field easel’ was invented. While it is uncertain who developed it, the telescopic legs and built in paint box and palette made the easel highly portable. Many designs also had enough room built into the lids to hold wet canvases.
Not only did the outdoors effect conditions for the artist, but also their materials. Artists previously ground each pigment for their paints by hand, carefully mixing the binding oil in proper proportions. After the modern paint tub was invented in 1841 by painter John Goffe Rand, paints could be produced in bulk and sold in tin tubes with a cap. The cap allowed paints to be preserved and contained, allowing flexibility and efficiency to painting outdoors.
Plain air painting has had a resurgence in the past decade, with many artists taking their canvases outside to paint in nature. The local Michigan Plein-Air Painters organization brings artists together to enjoy the challenges and pleasures of painting on location throughout Michigan. Its members encourage each other to step outside the solitary confines of a studio, and to paint and create artwork together outdoors.
The GVSU Art Gallery has several works of art in the collection that were created by artists who worked en plein air, accurately capturing the likeness of the landscapes they surrounded themselves in.
Read the full blog here.
Current Location:
Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall -> 2nd Floor (FINK)Location Notes:
FINK; 2nd Floor; Suite 203; Left of Room 203BSweetWater SeaSmoke
Artwork
Medium:
Oil on CanvasDimensions:
Artworks - Height: 8 in Width: 10 inDescription:
Painting of a hill with a tree behind it
Historical Context:
Lynne Boezaart has studied with various West Michigan artists, taking classes and workshops whenever she can. In 2012, she joined a group of artists to paint "en plein air," or in the outdoors. While painting outside presents its challenges, such as the weather and insects, Boezaart now paints in plein air almost exclusively. Lynne says,“The things that make plein air painting challenging are the same things that make it so interesting and enjoyable. Brushing the snowflakes from your palette; feeling the heat radiate from the sand on the beach; or having a finch light on your easel – those kind of external elements cannot help but influence the painting in front of you.”