American Legacy: Our National Parks
On Location with the Plein-Air Painters of America
 October 3, 2009 - January 10, 2010
Following the success of the 2007 exhibition From the Heart, the Plein- Air Painters of America return to The Haggin Museum for their 22nd Exhibition & Sale. American Legacy: Our National Parks will open with a gala weekend of events on October 2-4, 2009, and remain on view through January 10, 2010.
The exhibition comprises more than 100 paintings by 36 members and guests of the Plein-Air Painters of America (PAPA), documenting 35 different National Park Service locations stretching from coast to coast and border to border. An additional segment of approximately 15 paintings celebrates the centennial this year of Zion National Park.
What is plein-air?
The adjective plein-air refers to the philosophical belief that going into the field and painting on-location, challenging as it may be, is crucial to successfully documenting a visual and emotional point in time and place.
The artists in this exhibition are recognized as some of the finest on-location painters in the country. Each visited a park of choice, documenting locations that give vision to the unique elements that prompted U.S. Presidents and Congresses to “preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.”
From Wyoming’s Yellowstone, designated a park in 1872 by President Ulysses S. Grant, to the Old Spanish National Historic Trail, designated by President George W. Bush in 2002, American Legacy takes the viewer through 130 years of preservation.
In many ways it is a “field journal” experience of jewel-like colors, dazzling light and subtle nuances. Parks such as Kenai Fjords in Alaska are so vast and remote that Joan M. LaRue found it best to view it from a boat, while Golden Gate National Recreation Area is an urban retreat that Ken Auster has enjoyed many times himself. Breathtaking vistas and intimate locations off the beaten track are captured in both field studies and studio paintings created from experiences in the field.
Additionally, 15 PAPA members spent a week in March 2009 in Zion National Park in southern Utah. Their plein-air paintings create a special focus on the spectacular gorges and intimate creeks and glades that characterize this park whose Hebrew name means a place of refuge or sanctuary.
Opening Weekend Events >> |
