“Plein air” is French for “outdoors.” The painter finds a well-composed landscape scene and works quickly – amid changes in light and wind – to capture the natural moment. Ideally, the work is completed at the scene or, nearly complete, in the studio. As a vision of a fleeting instant in nature, the plein air painting pays truthful homage to landscapes in danger of disappearing. The urgent immediacy of the plein air tradition, even as it creates enduring artistic forms, reminds us of how quickly our unspoiled lands can vanish.
