“Capturing the Moment” is a major group exhibition of some of today’s foremost plein air artists in Britain. The show will feature more than 200 original paintings by 27 contemporary British artists, working in a range of locations from wide, open beaches to the urban landscapes of the city. Each painting in the exhibition has its origins based outside; many will have been completed on site and others painted in the studio from plein air studies. Every painting strives to capture the essence of the subject depicted.
This event was the brainchild of a dedicated group that was painting together in Portugal in 2017. Amongst British plein air painters it was often remarked that although there are exhibiting societies that recognize excellence in marine art, oil painting, watercolor painting, and so on, there is no such group devoted to artists working en plein air.
From British Plein Air Painters (BPAP):
We decided that the way forward was to put together a group exhibition in London to showcase in one place what plein air painters working in the UK today are achieving. Although it was a mammoth undertaking to organize an exhibition on such a scale, we felt that it is important that a true reflection of the best of our country’s plein air painting could be seen. So after a lengthy voting process in which we whittled down the chosen artists, we have finished with an exhibiting group of 27.
We are proud and honored that great British masters such as Royal Academicians Ken Howard and Fred Cuming accepted our invitation to join in with the show, and Trevor Chamberlain and David Curtis, who are both highly esteemed worldwide.
We recognize that there are many more wonderful artists working en plein air today in the UK than could be included in this show and we wanted to do something for all of those, so alongside our new website we began a Facebook page (British plein air painters) and Instagram account @britpleinair to inspire and spread the word. On those platforms we can repost work and keep artists informed of plein air events and activities.
To this end we have also organized two plein air paint outs in London this autumn which are free and open to all, a chance to get together to talk and paint and eat. If popular, this is something that we may continue to do throughout the year and perhaps throughout the country. We would welcome visiting plein air painters from overseas with open arms!
Our bigger dream is that this may be the start of an exhibiting society which would become a centre of excellence, an internationally recognized home for plein air painting in the UK.
We are extremely proud to present the first exhibition by the newly formed collective British Plein Air Painters. The “Capturing the Moment” exhibition will be unveiled at the Menier Gallery in London, October 16–18, with paintings available for collectors to purchase online a week before the show opens.
Featured plein air artists:
Adebanji Alade ROI
Peter Brown NEAC ROI PS
David Pilgrim ROI
David Bachmann
Valerie Pirlot
Trevor Chamberlain ROI RSMA WGA
Adam Ralston
Roy Connelly
Michael Richardson WGA
Fred Cuming RA
Andrew Roberts
David Curtis ROI RSMA
Chris Robinson RIBA
Tony Dakin
Maria Rose
Benjamin Hope NEAC
Daisy Sims Hilditch
Felicity House PS
John Stillman RSMA WGA
Ken Howard OBE RA
Haidee-Jo Summers ROI ARSMA
Tom Hughes
Karl Terry WGA
Tim King PCAFAS
Mo Teeuw IEA
Richard Pikesley PNEAC RWS
John Walsom AROI WGA
“Capturing the Moment” takes place at Menier Gallery, October 16–22, 2018, in London. For more information on the show and individual artists, please visit
www.britishpleinairpainters.co.uk.
A big Amen for the ideas of forming a U.K. plein air society / group / collective, the only rider being we need several to be able to cover our beautiful country and in order to be able to getup, packup, paint, and home for tea. Please lets DO IT