Plein Air Collector

Salon Winner Truly A Moment of Brilliance

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Artist Sharon Sprung has revealed her selections for the February/March 2026 PleinAir Salon art competition.

“The paintings I chose have an original viewpoint, are carefully observed, and go further than a photograph could,” Sharon said. “They possess an inner softness that leaves room for the viewer to experience the image.”

Her advice for artists? “Enter completions, get tough, and keep moving forward.”

ANNOUNCEMENT! Starting with the 16th Annual Competition in April 2026, we’re renaming the competition: The Salon Art Prize. Same competition. Same prestige. (More details below!)

Winners Preview:

1st Place Overall: “A Moment of Brilliance”

The Salon Art Prize - First Place Overall: Kat Lynn Nottingham, “A Moment of Brilliance,” oil, 36 x 36 in. — First Place Overall: Kat Lynn Nottingham, “A Moment of Brilliance,” oil, 36 x 36 in.

2nd Place Overall: “Clara”

The Salon Art Prize - Second Place Overall: Egle Rizzo (Italy), “Clara,” oil, 19.7 x 15.7 in. — Second Place Overall: Egle Rizzo (Italy), “Clara,” oil, 19.7 x 15.7 in.

3rd Place Overall: “Big Horn Night”

The Salon Art Prize - Third Place Overall: Ben Walter, “Big Horn Night,” oil, 16 x 20 in. — Third Place Overall: Ben Walter, “Big Horn Night,” oil, 16 x 20 in.

Plein Air Category Winners:

Best Plein Air Landscape: Dave English, “Moab Monolith,” oil, 8 x 10 in.

Best Plein Air Acrylic & Gouache: Randall Graham, “Eternal,” gouache, 22 x 30 in.

Best Plein Air Oil: Jane Hunt, “Last Light,” 8 x 10 in.

Best Plein Air Pastel: Christine Debrosky, “Summer Shimmy,” 9 x 12 in.

Best Plein Air Watercolor: Margarita Fomina (Finland), “Plein Air by the Water,” 20 x 26 in.

Why the Salon Name Change?

Fifteen years ago, we launched a little art competition to celebrate plein air painters. Nobody imagined it would become one of the most prestigious art prizes in the world. In honor of the legendary French Salon, the PleinAir Salon was designed to help artists elevate the quality of their work by competing for top prizes.

Since then, the PleinAir Salon has awarded nearly $530,000 in all-cash prizes to painters across every genre and medium. With 19 categories like landscape, figures, still life, and pleinair, there was something for everyone.

We named it the PleinAir Salon because it was started by PleinAir Magazine. However, having “PleinAir” in the name was confusing to a lot of people. Studio artists, figure painters, portrait painters, still life painters…they often assumed the competition wasn’t for them, so they rarely entered. They left awards on the table that were rightfully theirs to compete for. So we’re fixing it.

The PleinAir Salon is now The Salon Art Prize, with an even bigger purse:

One $15,000 winner receives the cover of PleinAir Magazine
A second $15,000 winner receives the cover of Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine
Over $11,000 awarded in the Annual Competition
And over $24,000 awarded through the monthly competitions

Entries for the 16th Annual Salon Art Prize open April 1st. You can find details at TheSalonArtPrize.com. You can enter each monthly competition in as many categories as you wish. We can’t wait to see what you create.

Blog post prepared for the web by Cherie Dawn Haas, Editor of Plein Air Today