Talk:En plein air

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[edit] Definition

Comments from User:Oriolesfan61 copied from article:

At the end of the first paragraph: (I dispute this commonly-held definition; see below.)

My quibble with the common definition:

In general, in common use, it means to paint outdoors and is inaccurately translated as painting "in the open air." But, literally, in French, it means "in" + "full" + "area." So when we begin to figure what the original term would mean, it would be "in the area fully," or "fully in the area." It would be similar to the Italian "all prima," not "al fresco."

The last "e" in "aire" is not superfluous; it is essential; the meaning is diferent, since "air" in French means "air" in English."

This is most simply understood as being an echo of the Italian "alla prima" which means "at the first," meaning a painting done in one long session, without the layers and layers over weeks and months of traditional oil painting.

This means that "en plein aire" is not the same as "painting outdoors." It of course has the same effect, since most outdoor paintings are done in one session. But that is the point of how the phrase is used (incorrectly, or inaccurately) today, not the point that the meaning of the term is as generally thought. Many French dictionaries mistranslate this term.

[edit] En plein aire

There is an important omission in the definition of the term as it appears in the article ... three little words ... and from life. For a work to be considered a plein air(e) piece, the artist must not only be painting outdoors, but must be painting the scene surrounding him/her. Someone who has set up his/her easel in a field or on a riverbank but who is creating a painting from a reference photo of different place (or a still life or portrait) clipped to the easel is NOT creating a plein air(e) work. Many plein aire works are created alla prima - an Italian term meaning "from the first" or "all at once" - but a plein aire painting can also be completed in several visits to the same location.