Plein Air Pleasures

Art Business News, June, 2001 by Jessica Lyons

Though it's been a century since plein air artists began dominating the California art scene the style remains a favorite of collectors

Summer is here, and hikers, bikers and surfers aren't the only ones heading to e hills, sand and surf. Plein air artists re dragging their canvases to the great wide open in droves. And collectors, galleries, museums and the' general public are close behind as painters get a breath of fresh air.

Painting in open air, or en plein air was popularized during the late 19th century by the French Impressionists who took their canvases outdoors to capture open-air scenes and everyday life vignettes. In the United States, the Union Pacific Railway hired East Coast artists--whose influences ranged from European Impressionists and Asian two-dimensional design--to paint scenes of the West on its box cars.

"Moving billboards" described Elaine Adams, editor-in-chief of the California Art Club's newsletter and chairman of public relations. The artists came for the money but stayed for the temperate climate and artist colonies that populated California. Plein air artists have continued to promote the legend of California, portraying its waters, mountains, forests, fields, sun and deserts. And ever since, "California has played a signature role in plein air art," Adams said.

Now, nearly 100 years after the early plein air artists dominated the early California art scene, painting en plein air is still thriving.

A California Connection

Established organizations, such as the Plein Air Painters of America, the California Art Club, the Laguna Beach Plein Air Painters, the Oak Group, the Baywood Artists, the Outsiders, the Carmel Art Association and other small, informal groups are sprouting up like weeds, hosting exhibitions, competitions, workshops, fund raisers and paint outs, all the while spreading the gospel of painting out of doors.

"It used to be that if I saw someone with an easel outdoors, I must know them" said plein air artist S. Burkett Kaiser, who lives in Malibu, Calif., and is a signature member of the California Art Club. "But now, it' so common to see people painting outdoors.

"The times, they are a changin'," she continued. "For quite a number of years, contemporary, abstract work was more popular. But plein air work is a little more spontaneous, a little looser."

Capturing Light

"You can never understand color unless you paint from life" Kaiser said, recounting a lesson she learned from her Russian instructor some 20 years ago. "I realized that the colors we see with our eyes are very different than what shows up in a photograph" She has been painting en plein air ever since.

"A photograph is basically wrong," said Louise DeMore, vice president of the Plein Air Painters of America. "The color relationships in photographs are limited by the film and the processor. Most people who paint directly from a photograph--the painting looks like the photograph. When you are painting outdoors you are responding to the light in a way that you can't when painting from a photograph."

The appeal to artists themselves is intrinsic, Kaiser added. "It's like fly fishing. You don't know if you will catch anything. But you get out in the stream, and it's quiet and calming. Soon the birds and squirrels don't notice you. It's a good day."

Rockville, Md., oil painter Bill Schmidt said he paints outdoors for the challenge.

"It's never, ever routine" he said. "No matter how long I've been painting [he's been painting en plein air since 1962], each scene--thank goodness--is a new expression. Always."

A studio can set limits, he said, whereas the changing light and atmosphere outdoors propels him.

"I paint with a sense of urgency. Whatever light I see, I get the feeling that I will never see it again. And I think 'oh my good God, I've got to get this down on canvas," Schmidt said.

Artists worldwide are echoing Kaiser and Schmidt as they grab their watercolors, oils and pastels and head outdoors, said Marie Wainscoat, festival coordinator for the eighth-annual Carmel Art Festival, which was held last month in picturesque Carmel, Calif.

"I think the word is out. Last year we had 180 entries. This year, we had more than 220."

For two days last month, art enthusiasts watched as juried participants painted out of doors, capturing the beauty of the Monterey Peninsula on the Central California Coast, and competed for more than $20,000 in awards.

"The venue is appropriate as the Carmel Art Association was founded in 1927 by the country's leading plein air artists who founded Carmel's early art colony," Wainscoat explained.

Following the competition, the plein air paintings were auctioned off at a silent auction, and the proceeds went to benefit local youth art programs.

Wainscoat said it's the glimpse of everyday life that attracts collectors, both old and new.

"Most plein air artists have a great appreciation for nature and the environment where they live. They see beauty that we may miss in our everyday lives--it's a wonderful way to get us to stop and look."