Willows and White Poplars (Saules et peupliers blancs)

Sketching outside, artists made informal studies in oils or charcoal of terrain, foliage, and sky—glimpses of often unremarkable topography through which they conveyed their sensory experiences of light and atmosphere. They often used these quickly rendered landscapes as inspiration for formal compositions made in their studios. Such nineteenth-century pleinairists were an important influence on subsequent generations of artists, including Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida, who carried small panels to work outside to capture his motifs in bold, saturated colors.