National Gallery Assignment: Carot to Monet

Open air painting is the practice of painting a landscape out in the open. It came into practice in the 18^th and 19^th century when artists flocked to Italy to paint the countryside. These pieces most often depict mountains, valleys, meadows, rivers, and other natural landscapes. This style of painting was thought of as practice for the hand and eye in capturing the ever changing effects of the sunset, cloud patterns, natural textures, and light. Eventually this practice developed into an art form in and of itself, having a significant effect on the style and subject matter of European landscape painting.

Many of the paintings in the exhibit demonstrated an objective of showing the overall effect of a landscape and the elements that act on it. Broader, less precise strokes were used in many of the pieces to convey these effects. Shadows, changing light, and the movement of wind in the trees can be seen through the use of this stroke technique. Focusing too much on detail and precision would take away from these elements. Other elements benefitted from more precise focus. In other paintings, certain areas of focus in the painting were done with more detailed strokes, such as the disruption of water rushing over rocks or the shifting cloud patterns. While these particular elements were more detailed, the rest of the painting was less precise. Another aspect of open air painting is the use of color in capturing the landscapes and elements being painted. The use of color in open air painting focused on the different hues found in the natural setting. This style of painting aspired to capture these hues, which are often created by differing lighting and textures. All of these techniques in open air painting affected the style and subject matter of European landscape painting.