Plein
air
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A
French term for "in the open air." This term describes paintings that
have been made outdoors, rather than in a studio. Studio painting was normal
practice until the early 1800s, when English painters Richard Parks Bonington
and John Constable began making sketches and complete works outdoors. American
Romantics adopted this approach, which was also a key method of the Impressionists
(such as Claude Monet, who made this painting). The popularity of plein air
painting increased as portable painting equipment and materials, such as paint
sold in tubes, became widely available.
Another term for painting outdoors is the Italian word alfresco.