plein air

(noun)

A french term referring to the practice of painting outdoors, where a painter reproduces the actual visual conditions seen at the time of the painting. 

Related Terms

(noun)

En plein air is a French expression which means "in the open air", and refers to the act of painting outdoors. In the mid-19th century, working in natural light became particularly important to the Barbizon school and Impressionism.

Related Terms

Examples of plein air in the following topics:

  • Impressionism

    • The Impressionists found that they could capture the momentary and transient effects of sunlight by painting en plein air.
    • Sisley was dedicated to painting landscape en plein air and his work is known for capturing the transient effects of sunlight.

  • Europe and America from 1850–1900

    • The Impressionists argued that people do not see objects but only the light which they reflect, and therefore painters should paint in natural light (en plein air) rather than in studios and should capture the effects of light in their work .

  • Post-Impressionism

    • Camille Pissarro briefly painted in a pointillist manner, and even Monet abandoned strict plein air painting.

  • Landscape Painting in the Romantic Period

    • Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley and Frédéric Bazille among others, practiced plein air painting and developed what would later be called Impressionism, an extremely influential movement.

  • Colonial Australian Art

    • They began an impressionistic plein air approach to the Australian landscape that remains embedded in Australia's popular consciousness, both in and outside the art world.

  • German Painting in the Northern Renaissance

    • Likely the first landscape painter in Early Modern Europe, Dürer honed his landscape painting skills working en plein air at home and during his travels.

  • Air Wedge

    • An air wedge can be used with nearly any light source, including non-coherent white light.
    • An example of an air wedge interferometer is shown in .
    • Because of this extremely thin air-gap, the air wedge interferometer has been successfully used in experiments with femto-second high-power lasers.
    • The second reflection occurs when the beam exits the first plate and enters the air wedge, and the third reflection occurs when the beam exits the air wedge and enters the second glass plate.
    • Describe how an air wedge is used to visualize the disturbance of a wave front after proagation

  • Air Pollution

    • Air pollution results from increasing levels of harmful molecules and particulates in the atmosphere.
    • Air pollution is the presence of harmful molecules or particulates, both natural and man-made, in the atmosphere.
    • Air pollution is also a problem indoors, where poor health has been linked to pollutants like radon, VOCs, lead paint, combustion particulates, carbon monoxide, and asbestos.
    • Air pollution contributes to poor health through respiratory conditions, heart disease, and lung cancer.
    • The output of industrial manufacturing processes is a major source of air pollution.

  • Sound Production: Vibrating String and Air Columns

    • A vibrating string or air column can both create music and have unique properties.
    • Many instruments make music by causing a vibration to a column of air in a resonator.
    • Closed Air Tubes:The maximum displacement of the air occurs at the open end of the tube, and is called the antinode.
    • Open Air tubes:Air tubes can also be open at both ends.
    • All have maximum air displacements at the open end and none at the closed end.

  • Dalton's Law of Partial Pressure

    • The air in the atmosphere is a mixture of many different gases, that vary in concentration.
    • Dalton's law states that at any given time, the percentage of each of these gasses in the air we breathe makes its contribution to total atmospheric pressure, and this contribution will depend on how much of each gas is in the air we breathe.
    • Because gasses flow from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure, atmospheric air has higher partial pressure of oxygen than alveolar air (PO2=159mmHg compared to PAO2=100 mmHg).
    • Similarly, atmospheric air has a much lower partial pressure for carbon dioxide compared to alveolar air (PCO2=.3mmHg compared to PACO2=40 mmHg).
    • While inhaled air is similar to atmospheric air due to Dalton's law, exhaled air will have relative concentrations that are in between atmospheric and alveolar air due to the passive diffusion of gasses during gas exchange.