Far more than a “how-to” show, Plein Air, Painting the American Landscape 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.

Denali, en Plein Air

Three nationally acclaimed plein air artists, Matt Smith of Scottsdale, Arizona, Kenn Backhaus of Robesonia, Pennsylvania, and Jean LeGassick of Silver City, Nevada, paint Alaska’s Mt. McKinley, North America’s tallest mountain, and the expansive wilderness landscape of Denali National Park.

Viewers join Smith on location for a brief painting demonstration and a glimpse into the training, technique and thought processes necessary to paint a successful plein air painting. And the adventure and risks of painting in the wild become evident when a blond grizzly arrives uninvited, and sends the artists scurrying.

A visit to the Anchorage Museum presents the astonishing mountaineer and artist, George Brown, and the paintings he created while climbing Mt. McKinley as a member of the 1947 Bradford Washburn Mt. McKinley Expedition.

The Tongass Rain Forest, en Plein Air

Plein air artists, Smith, Backhaus and LeGassick, travel to remote Southeast Alaska to paint the Tongass Rain Forest, renowned for its towering old growth cedar, hanging moss and incessant rainfall. This episode features a demonstration by Jean LeGassick, who proves that it takes tenacity, gear, and considerable know-how to paint in a rain forest.

Jean shares her personal experience on her road to becoming a professional artist. And her colleagues prove there are struggles and obstacles in every endeavor.

Professor Kesler Woodward examines Laurence’s life and art in the context of modern times.The majesty of the Kenai landscape, the fun and camaraderie amongst the artists, and their pursuit of the rich heritage of landscape painting on location in Alaska creates a memorable viewing experience.

Seward, Alaska, en Plein Air

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 Woordward 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.