Plener

Plener is a Polish term that denotes painting or drawing outdoors, directly from nature, and the environment in which the work is created. The word is borrowed from the French plein air, meaning “open air,” and in Polish usage it can refer to the practice itself as well as the setting or landscape depicted. In common art terminology, plener describes both an approach to making art on location and the on-site subject matter, including cityscapes, landscapes, and scenes of daily life.

Practice and method: A plener typically involves portable materials that allow an artist to work outside a studio. Artists paint or sketch on-site to capture natural light, weather, and atmosphere, often under time constraints imposed by changing illumination. Even when a finished work is completed later, the initial act is associated with the immediacy and spontaneity of the outdoor environment.

History and context: The plein air approach spread across Europe in the 19th century and was adopted in Polish painting as part of broader trends in Romanticism and Realism, and later linked to modernist developments. In Poland, the plener became a standard method in art schools and among professional painters seeking to study nature and urban life directly. Today, painting en plein air remains a common practice in contemporary Polish art, embraced for its experiential and observational value.

Other uses: In film and photography, plener can also refer to on-location outdoor shooting, as opposed to studio work, and is part of Polish terminology for outdoor production settings. The term thus encompasses both historical and contemporary practices across visual arts.