For the 10th year running, professional and emerging artists with a flair for painting en plein air are invited to compete for the coveted NSW Parliament Plein Air Painting Prize. Sponsored by Telstra, the Prize is awarded to the best painting of a NSW landscape, with one very important condition: the painting must have been completed entirely out of doors.
En plein air painting was first made popular by the likes of Renoir and Monet, who enjoyed the challenge of capturing the effects of changing light, weather and seasons. Today's plein air painters trek through bushland, climb mountains, traverse rivers, follow coastlines or simply step out into the backyard in search of the perfect subject.
Artists including Tom Carment, Guy Maestri, Noel McKenna, Euan Macleod and Rodney Pople have won the Prize, which has also furthered the careers of artists such as John Bokor, Isabel Gomez and Robert Malherbe.
Artists are invited to enter up to two paintings done en plein air, of a New South Wales subject, with the work begun on or after May 2015. The finalists will be displayed in NSW Parliament House during October 2017.
Entries will be accepted from Monday 19 June – Friday 21 July 2017 via electronic submission. For more information please visit www.pleinair.com.au
