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Introduction
The tradition of plein-air
painting (as opposed to studio work) reached its apogee in the 19th
century in France, when artist colonies sprang up all over the country
from 1840 onwards in villages like Barbizon,
Grez-sur-Loing, Pont-Aven, and Concarneau. Initially linked with the Naturalist
and Realist movements, which were themselves a reaction to the social
changes caused by the Industrial Revolution, the principles of plein-air
art later formed the core of Impressionism
- specifically Impressionist
landscape painting - as practised by Claude
Monet (1840-1926) during the last 30 years of the century. Other leading
plein-air Impressionists included Camille
Pissarro (1830-1903), Pierre Renoir
(1841-1919), and Alfred Sisley
(1839-1899), all of whom made significant advances in the depiction of
light. It was Monet, however, who adhered most closely to the practice
of plein-air methods, continuing to refine his painterly techniques
(even when plagued with failing eyesight) in his monumental series of
water lily paintings completed in his garden at Giverny, until in death
in 1926.
Plein Air Artists of Ireland
Nineteenth century Irish
landscape artists were also active exponents of outdoor painting.
Many of them travelled to the Continent to study fine art in Antwerp or
Paris, and afterwards joined one of the rural artistic communities listed
above. This group included such Irish artists as: Nathaniel
Hone the Younger (1831-1917), perhaps the finest Irish landscape painter
of his era, Augustus Nicholas
Burke (1838-91), Aloysius
O'Kelly (1853-c.1941), the society painter Henry
Jones Thaddeus (1859-1929) and the romantic artist Frank
O'Meara (1853-88). Later Irish emigrants included the Impressionists
Roderic O'Conor (1861-1940)
and Walter Frederick Osborne
(1859-1903), Joseph Malachy Kavanagh (1856-1918), John
Lavery (1856-1941) and Dermod
O'Brien (1865-1945). Another later visitor to Brittany was the Dublin-born
artist Stanhope Forbes,
later an important member of the innovative Newlyn school of landscape
painting, together with the Limerick-born artist Norman
Garstin (1847-1926). The 'Breton tradition' was continued in the 20th
century by figures like William
John Leech (1881-1968). At home, the plein-air tradition was
vigorously maintained by people like Paul
Henry (1876-1958) and James
Humbert Craig (1878-1944) in their powerful West of Ireland views.
Noted landscape works from Northern Ireland artists included the French-style
rural views of Frank McKelvey
(1895-1975), the quiet country scenes of County Antrim and County Down
of the Belfast-Swiss painter Hans
Iten (1874-1930), and the picturesque views of Tom
Carr (1909-1999) and Maurice
Canning Wilks (1910–1984). Lastly, one should not forget the
'school' of Tory Island open air painting in Donegal
which emerged during the 1950s, due largely to Derek Hill (1916-2000)
and his unusual 'protege' the primitive Tory Island painter James
Dixon (1887-1970).
Irish Plein-Air Painting in the 21st
Century
The wild landscape of Ireland continues
to attract outdoor painters from all over the world, not least because
of its diversity: from the rugged coastline of Mayo, Galway, and Donegal,
to the limestone hills and fields of The Burren in Clare, and the Glens
of Antrim in the North. The indigenous outdoor painting tradition
is continued in the works of contemporary artists such as: David
Nolan (b.1966), John
Morris (b.1958), Paul
Kelly (b.1968), Henry
McGrane (b.1969) and Norman
Teeling (b.1944), to name but five. They are among some of the best
Irish artists.
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