A Brush With Nature - A group exhibition of paintings created en plein air
The phrase en plein air (French for “in the open air) is less a descriptor of a particular style of painting than a discipline to which artists commit themselves. Rather than relying on photographs or studio invention, these artists place themselves within the landscape itself, accepting the conditions of a particular place and moment. Landscape painting remains unique among artistic subjects in the breadth of its demands. Its grandeur and complexity, its atmosphere and constantly changing color relationships, resist easy translation into paint. Like all artists, landscape painters depend upon the fundamental principles of shape, value, color, composition, and mark-making. Yet nature rarely yields her secrets so easily. Vast in scale and infinite in variation, she requires a deeper form of looking, one that moves beyond description toward understanding.
The works gathered here reflect that pursuit. Captured across a range of seasons, weather conditions, and locations, these paintings are less records of scenery than conversations with place. Some revel in the fleeting brilliance of light; others attend to subtler moods of atmosphere and structure. Together, these artists reveal four distinct artistic voices responding to a shared subject that has inspired painters for centuries.
