Innovation En Plein Air

"I was pleased with myself when I discovered that sunlight, for example, could not be reproduced, but that i had to represent it by some other means . . . by color." Paul Cezanne

In last year's study of "Art is...Innovation" we examined the role of technological advancements and ingenuity in innovation. While invention is not necessarily the same as innovation, it can be challenging to separate the two. Many great innovations have come on the heels of new discoveries in technology and knowledge. It is the creative application of those inventions to forge something new and intriguing that advances the human spirit . . . that is the heart of innovation.

The Impressionists seized the opportunities of technological advancements of the 19th century in pursuit of their artistic vision. In 1841, John G. Rand invented the collapsible metal paint tube and around the same time, the portable "French Box" easel was also invented. This freed painters from the confines of the painting studio and the tradition of painting "en plein air" took flight.

The advancement in the creation of synthetic pigments meant that painters' palettes were no longer limited by the mixing of natural pigments with linseed oil. Bright yellows, reds and blues were added to palettes that once just held ochres and siennas and umbers. The Impressionists were also deeply interested in the introduction and advancement of color theory by Goethe, Michel Eugene Chevreul and other 19th Century scientists and thinkers.

Armed with new color theories and new synthetic colors with which to experiment, the Impressionists loaded their packs for the day with easels, palettes, paints, brushes and canvases and headed to the great outdoors, seeking to capture the "spectacle of reality" . . . the transient, ephemeral qualities of seasonal, temporal light.