Gallery Blog

Gustave Courbet, Bonjour Monsieur Courbet” (1854) Gustav Courbet depicts himself with all his painting gear in his pack, greeting friends on his way to paint out of doors. This is the most iconic representation of plein air painting.  

The practice of painting en plein air (a french phrase that translates loosely to painting in “full” or “open” air) is a favorite pursuit of many of our landscape painters here at Art Elements. As this is a phrase we hear often around the gallery, I thought it might be fun to dig a little bit into the history of this particular painting tradition to learn a little more about it, and to see what gets our artists like Don Bishop, Romona Youngquist Mandy Main, Michael Orwick, and Molly Reeves so excited.

Art Elements artist Don Bishop, paints a lavender field en plein air

Art Elements Artist Romona Youngquist, Sunflower Farm, 6x8

As the phrase suggests, painting en plein air, essentially involves hauling one’s materials out to the remote location of your choice and painting directly from nature, rather than using a sketch, photograph or memory to reconstruct what was seen from within the confines of a studio. This was a favorite practice of French impressionist, like Claude Monet, Pierre- Aguste Renoir and Paul Cézanne.

John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet Painting by the Edge of a Wood (1885) now located at the Tate Gallery in London

For me, the notion of plein air painting conjures romantic images of the solitary and meditative artist at work in an entirely natural environment. There is something deeply organic and pure about this notion, as if this might be the way that painting originated.

Plein air painting is in fact, just the opposite, a modern invention, and one that is directly tied to the technological developments of the industrial era. Plein air painting might never have taken off had it not been for a simple modern invention.

In 1841 a man by the name of John Goffe Rand invented something simple, and revolutionary, the collapsible zinc paint tube with a stopper cap.

John Goffe’s patent drawings

Prior to this, paints were mixed in the studio by the individual artist, and once they were mixed they had to be carried in glass jars if they were to be transported anywhere. Considering the vast amount of colors and pigments that an oil painter might use to complete one work, the idea of packing up all of those glass jars and trekking out with them, sometimes many miles, to capture a desired scene, was basically impossible. But thanks to Mr. Goffes’s invention, artists were suddenly much more mobile! What’s more, paint could be mass produced and purchased by artists ready to use in the tube. I can’t help but this as the 19^th century painters version of the i-phone, suddenly it’s a whole new world thanks to one little invention. Goffe’s pre-packaged paint tubes dramatically changed his customer’s relationship to their world and how they could depict it in their art.

Even thought when we think if plein air painting we often thing of the French impressionists, who popularized the practice, it actually began a generation earlier with the Romantics. English landscape artists John Constable and J.M.W. Turner were actually were actually some of the first artists to make names for themselves painting in this style. technique. Like our own Romona Youngquist, Constable loved to depicted pastoral imagery, often painting farm houses, barns or workers in their fields.

John Constable, The Haywain, 1821, now in the collection of the national gallery London. Constable predated the impressionists and was of the generation of Romnatic painters.

The barbazon school and the American Hudson River school of painters also took advantage of this opportunity prior to the impressionist co-opting of the practice.

So in fact, while we might tend to think of plein air painting as a return to nature, it would not have actually been possible if it were not for the technological advancements of the 19^th century. And in fact, what these painters started a tradition of depicting not, unspoiled nature, but instead images of agriculture and industry, that our very on landscape painters continue to draw from today.

Our painters here at art elements, like their barbazon and impressionist forebearers enjoy the experience of plein air painting in a group. Romona, Don and Michael Orwick occasionally paint en plein air together (that is one afternoon picnic that I would love to be invited to).

These artists are surrounded by some of the most stunning natural and agricultural scenery in the country, thanks to the environment that has allowed our wine industry to flourish in this area as well. Romona describes a desire to “capture what she sees” and to share it. I think we can all connect with that feeling, of driving down a beautiful country road and seeing an expanse of landscape, a sunrise, a sunset, a passing storm that is so gorgeous you wish there was a way to capture its beauty and take it with you. By making the journey directly into nature with their canvas and paints, our beloved plein air painters are tapping into both an innate human desire to pursue beauty, and a tradition in western art that is rooted in one of the greatest artistic movements to date.

“Nothing can be beautiful which is not true.” – John Ruskin, 19^th century art critic and theorist

A dense and vibrant wave of painterly poppies presses against the edge of the canvas in Molly Reeves’ painting “On Being,” – they beckon you to step on to the path that cuts through this patch of blossoms and enter into the artist’s world. The eye, obedient to Reeves visual instructions, then follows this winding trail toward the center of the canvas, and into the recesses of the landscape. Red petals melt into yellow field, which in turn roll toward a distant tree line that holds up an effervescent blue and purple sky dotted with cottony clouds.

While the intense reds and oranges of the poppy field in “On Being” overwhelm the eye at first, closer study of the painting reveals a beautifully composed and artfully balanced canvas. The soft cool tones and smooth texture of the skyline balances the heat and intensity of the flowers at the foreground. The result is a landscape painting that is simultaneously energizing and soothing a – a work that excites and calms the eye all at once. The yellows and greens at the midline of the canvas, coupled with the gentle curve of the path as it retreats into the field, create a clear sightline for the eye to follow, leading you on a visual journey through each poetic element that Reeves has selected for this work. Like beats in a song, or stanzas in a sonnet, these separate moments come together to create an over all sense of mood as well as of place, and invite you, the viewer, to join her there.

This is no accident. Nor is it an example the good fortune of finding an excellent subject to paint. Rather, it is evidence of overall Reeves’ approach to her art making. As she eloquently puts it… 

“For me it is all about intention; examples might be: what kind of story do I want to tell, or where do I want to take the viewer. Long before I pick up the brush I am constantly observing different aspects of reality and mining my memory, quite naturally the two become fused. My desire through this reconciliation of observed reality and related memories is to create a two dimensional fiction that authentically tells a deeper and more thoughtful truth.” – Molly Reeves

(Reeves shows off her painting "Water Magic" on a visit that Art Elements owner Loni Parrish and gallery manager Sarah Askin made to her studio) Photo Credit: Sarah Askin

Reeves she makes clear that her landscape paintings reference elements of the natural world, but are in fact constructions – a pastiche of real and imagined (or remembered) imagery that she carefully combines in order to create a final composition. With this approach, she hopes to touch on deeper, perhaps more eternal truths than a simply record of the natural world. Ideas of play, invention and whimsy are all important components of Reeves work, which, although perhaps it is subtle at first, becomes more and more clear the more time you spend with her paintings.

This idea that the artist creates their own reality in order to touch upon inner truths, is drawn from a long standing belief that the arts reveal inner, fundamental truths -- that truth and beauty are inextricably related, and that in creating something truly beautiful, an essential truth is revealed. The belief that recording the truth is more complicated than merely copying what you see in life is fundamental here. This art philosophy, espoused by many of the Romantic painters of the 18^th and 19^th century, is linked to the notion that to see true beauty, either in art or in the natural world has an elevating affect and will literally improve the life of the viewer. For the art theorist John Ruskin (quoted above) beauty was truth, and visa versa. Reeves paintings are a wonderful example of this idea in play.

Another example of this notion of play, invention and whimsy is readily evident in her “Bird with Balls” series, which, along with several of her landscapes will be featured in our forthcoming “Flora and Fauna” show along with ceramic animal sculptor, Blythe Eastman.

“Wise One” is a perfect example of Reeves whimsical approach. The incredibly skilful and naturalistically portrayed bird (as well as the tree branch upon which it sits) are juxtaposed with the fanciful pink and red hues of the sky as well as the “ball” shaped clouds that are aligned in a perfect little row. The symmetry of the clouds, something we never would see in the natural world, is a clear signal to the viewer that we have, once again, entered into Molly’s world.

Reeves intends for these paintings to inspire pure joy for the viewer. While she certainly could have chosen to represent these birds in a more “realistic” setting, as she likely saw them in nature, the choice to reposition them in this imagined setting adds a sense of play to the image that makes it something else entirely. But more than just fun, works like Molly Reeves can teach us something valuable about beauty and truth that can be found no where else in the world. They show us not only the inner truth and beauty of the artist, but hopefully, some inner truths about ourselves.