Far more than a “how-to” shows, the Plein Air, Painting the American Landscape Series is a celebration of our natural world, a visual retreat to our nation’s beautiful places and an exploration of the rich and colorful history of American landscape painting. From the founding of the Cape Cod School by Charles Hawthorne in 1899 and gathering of the Taos Society of Artists a few years later to location demonstrations by today’s leading landscape artists – viewers will discover the roots of this uniquely American art form and why painting “en plein air” is once again at the forefront of American representational art.

Kenn Backhaus leads the trio of visiting artists to Seward, Alaska and its beautiful Resurrection Bay, gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park. With the towering Chugach Mountains as a backdrop the artists find inspiration in a derelict boatyard. Kenn demonstrates his approach to painting en plein air, and discusses the influences that shaped him as an artist.

The activities of today’s artists are examined in context with earlier nationally known Alaskan plein air artists and adventurers, Eustace Ziegler and Ted Lambert. Professor Kesler Woodward provides commentary and examples.

Viewers are introduced to iconoclastic painter of Mt. McKinley, Sidney Laurence, whose paintings, created in the early 1900s, have come to epitomize the Alaska landscape.
 

Cape Cod with Charles Sovek, en Plein Air

Nationally known Connecticut artist, author and educator, Charles Sovek, takes viewers to his summer home and studio on Cape Cod. Highly engaging, Charles shares his life as an artist and the perspective 50 years of experience brings to painting en plein air.

Viewers will discover the rich history of the Provincetown artists’ colony, from the founding by Charles Hawthorne in the late 1800s, to the arrival of Hans Hoffman and the abstract expressionist. Commentary and examples are provided by Chris McCarthy, Director of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, and James Bakker, author and art expert.

Peggy Sovek, Charles' wife, shares her family’s history and relationship to Charles Hawthorne at the family’s “Red House.” And Charles demonstrates art in the making with a painting demonstration on the docks of the Provincetown boat harbor.

 

Taos en Plein Air, and the Taos Society of Artists

Contemporary plein air artist, Ron Rencher, is featured in this episode and introduces viewers to the rich and colorful history of Taos, New Mexico. Following a brief biographical sketch, discover how the Pueblo (Tewa) Indians, the Sante Fe Railroad and a group of academically trained, highly skilled artists from the East Coast came together to give birth to the Taos Society of Artists and artist colony that remain active today.

This episode takes viewers to the Taos Pueblo, still inhabited after a thousand years, and the E. I. Couse Studio – the remaining in-tact studio of the Taos Society of Artists. The program concludes with a painting demonstration by well-known plein air artist, Ron Rencher, painting the autumn colors in the Sangre de Christo Mountains.

 

Trinidad, Colorado, en Plein Air, and the California Impressionists

Watercolorist and oil painter, Frank LaLumia, shows his command of both mediums with an on-location watercolor demonstration as he paints the historic buildings of Trinidad, Colorado, then painting in oils at Three Ponds Farm in Central Michigan. Frank also shares insights into his life as a professional landscape artist.

Jean Stern, Executive Director of The Irvine Museum, author and art historian, provides historical insights to plein air painting in America and introduces viewers to works by William Wendt, Guy Rose, Alston Clarke and the California Impressionist plein air artists featured in The Irvine Museum collection.