Landscape Art - En Plein Air Painting
With regards to the development of Landscape Art, many milestones were passed during the nineteenth century. As the Industrial Revolution took over the way people ran their lives, the previously installed, and now somewhat archaic, hierarchy of genre collapsed. With this, Landscape Art would gain a new superiority, throughout Europe and also in North America. Artists, such as Rousseau and Daubigny, would focus upon painting directly from nature, a practice known as En Plein Air Painting. A French term, which simply means the Artist paint outdoors, actually in view of the Landscape. Not create a composition of idyllic pastoral scenes, as was the case with the Classic Landscape Art of Nicholas Poussin (1594-1665). Poussin accomplished much in his lifetime, especially with regards to the progression of Landscape Art, as an accepted and important genre. However, the idealized Classic Landscape Art of the eighteenth century, and Nicholas Poussin, was of less concern to the next generation of Landscape Art painters.
En Plein Air might also refer to Landscape Art, which particularly displays the 'ambience' of being painted outside the studio, directly from nature. Landscape Art rapidly evolved through En Plein Air Painting, although Artists had actually worked this way for a long time, before the nineteenth century. Around the middle of the nineteenth century, En Plein Air Painting, and working with natural light, became of particular importance to the Impressionists. The rural scenes of John Constable were exhibited at the Salon de Paris in 1824, and would influence many of the younger Landscape Artists, of the time. Constable's work encouraging them to leave behind the formalities of Classic Landscape Art, and draw their inspiration directly from nature. During the 1848 Revolution, many Artists would gather in Barbizon, to progress and experiment with the concepts of John Constable. Natural Landscapes would be the primary subject matter of those Artists, and En Plein Air Painting was their forte.
From around 1830 to 1870 the Barbizon School become highly influential. So named after a French village, situated not far from the Forest of Fontainebleau. Rousseau and Daubigny were among the leaders of the Barbizon School, and the emphasis was very much on 'realism', something which En Plein Air Painting reflects. The Barbizon School diminished around 1870, just three years after the death of Rousseau, in 1867. Never the less, the practice and popularity of En Plein Air Painting significantly increased during the 1870's. Not only due to the influence of the Landscape Art produced by the Barbizon School, but also because of the introduction of 'paint in a tube'. Before this, artists would have to prepare and mix the paints by hand, and this could, and did, cause all sorts of problems. The logistics of En Plein Air Painting, therefore, being made easier by the invention of 'paint in a tube', and also, the introduction of the 'French Box Easel'. A French Box Easel was portable, with an integrated paint box and palette, and adjustable telescopic legs. It's practical design, absolutely perfect for Landscape Artists, who preferred En Plein Air Painting.
The French Impressionists, such as Renoir and Monet were dedicated supporters of En Plein Air Painting. Claude Oscar Monet (1840-1926) was actually the founder of Impressionist painting. The term being derived and first applied to one of his most famous paintings, 'Impression, Sunrise'. Throughout his prolific career, Monet consistently practiced and progressed towards the concepts of Impressionism, in particular, with regards to expressing one’s individual 'impression' of nature. Monet would apply this concept through En Plein Air Painting, and within the Landscape genre. By the end of the nineteenth century, En Plein Air Painting was enthusiastically practiced by many leading Russian Artists, such as Valentin Serov and Vasily Polenov. On the other side of the world, American Impressionists, such as Guy Rose and Arthur Hill Gilbert, would also be influential advocates for En Plein Air Painting.
The popularity of Landscape Art, and En Plein Air Painting survived the twentieth century, and has continued to be favored, into the twenty first century. Today, many collectors enjoy the ambience and expression of Landscape Art. Never before have we had such an immense selection available. However, that is probably because, as those early En Plein Air Artists understood, there is nothing, which makes an impression, quite like the great outdoors.
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