Plein air painting (painting outdoors, from the French "en plein air") is the foundation of Laguna Beach's identity as an art colony. The town's dramatic coastal light, varied terrain, and sheltered canyons attracted landscape painters beginning in the early 1900s.
Early History
Painters arrived in Laguna Beach seeking the same qualities that had drawn the French Impressionists to the countryside: natural light unfiltered by studio windows, and a landscape worth painting. The Southern California coast offered consistent sunshine, varied terrain (ocean, cliffs, canyons, hills), and a quality of light that artists described as uniquely clear and warm.
Norman St. Claire is generally credited as the first artist to establish a permanent studio in Laguna Beach (around 1903). Anna Hills, William Wendt, Edgar Payne, and dozens of others followed. By the 1920s, the artists colony was well established, with studios in the canyons and a growing reputation in the national art world.
California Impressionism
The early Laguna Beach painters are associated with the California Impressionism movement. They worked in oils on canvas, painting landscapes with visible brushwork and attention to atmospheric light. Subject matter was almost exclusively the local landscape: coastal bluffs, eucalyptus groves, canyon wildflowers, harbor scenes.
Key figures associated with Laguna Beach plein air painting:
- William Wendt — "Dean of Southern California landscape painters"
- Anna Hills — Co-founder of the Laguna Beach Art Association
- Edgar Payne — Known for Sierra mountain scenes and Laguna seascapes
- Granville Redmond — Deaf painter known for poppy fields and tonalist work
- Joseph Kleitsch — Portraitist who also painted Laguna street scenes
Legacy Today
Plein air painting remains active in Laguna Beach. The Laguna Plein Air Painters Association hosts weekly paint-outs. The annual Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational (October) brings artists from across the country to paint the local landscape for a week, with works auctioned at a gala.
The Laguna Art Museum holds the largest collection of California plein air painting, with particular depth in the early Laguna Beach school.
Where to See Plein Air Work
- Laguna Art Museum — Permanent collection of historical California Impressionism
- Festival of Arts — Annual summer show features contemporary plein air artists
- Downtown galleries — Several specialize in historical and contemporary California landscape painting
- Heisler Park — On any given morning, you will likely encounter painters at easels along the bluff path