CAM Virtual Lecture Series: Contemporary Plein Air

As a peninsula known for its light, waters, and granite, Cape Ann has attracted plein air painters since the form began. In this virtual lecture, Cape Ann Artist Loren Doucette will talk about how contemporary artists like herself both draw inspiration and diverge from this tradition. These painters, while still working from observation, synthesize the information seen on the landscape through poetic expression rather than interpreting it realistically.

Starting with works in the Museum’s collection, including traditional plein air paintings by Aldro Hibbard  and more interpretive paintings by Marsden Hartley and Nell Blaine, Doucette will discuss the difference between traditional plein air painting and some of the painters, past and present, that express a more abstracted version of the landscape. This virtual lecture will highlight the stories of artists who, with a freedom deeply rooted in experimentation and innovation, depart from traditional plein air painting to create a vision uniquely their own.