The Northern Boys: A Celebration of Plein Air Painting

About

Have you looked out from a Manchester tram to see a figure before an easel, stooped under an umbrella, painting furiously in the driving rain? Chances are, you’ve seen one of The Northern Boys — the distinguished outdoor painting group — nine of the North’s finest plein air painters, dedicated professionals and friends. (Well, you’d have to be dedicated, wouldn’t you?)

For two weeks from Saturday 6 April, the inaugural group exhibition of the The Northern Boys will be on display at Contemporary Six, a leading independent art gallery in Manchester city centre. Each of the nine artists will contribute a number of plein air paintings to the collection, from Manchester, Venice, London, and more, and after enjoying a 2018 full of awards and accolades from across the nation — now is the time to take notice.

Though each member has his own style, the group are united in their love for painting outdoors, “en plein air”. This hazardous process, requiring fortitude against the Great British weather and inquisitive public, lends an unmistakable freshness and energy to the paintings.

Alex Reuben owner of Contemporary Six says: “Painting outdoors creates work that is always distinctly of the moment in which it was created, and yet timeless.

This is a quality found in the work of The Northern Boys — whether it be the evening-silhouetted domes of Italy, the lapping shores of Blackpool promenade, or the low beams of petrol-soaked cities. Life, as perceived by the artist, shines through.”

Membership of this remarkably accomplished group incorporates four Gallery-artists: Rob Pointon, Adam Ralston, Norman Long, and Michael Ashcroft, along with Ian Layton, Chris Slater, Steven Smith, Andrew Farmer, and David Allen.

“The four Northern Boys represented by Contemporary Six are amongst the Gallery’s most popular artists,” said Reuben. “They connect with us because they transport us to the places they lovingly depict. Only the very best paintings can do that”.

Over the past 10 years, there has been a marked development in the group’s painting, and recognition is beginning to follow. The Northern Boys members are the recipients of three national British plein air awards: Pintar Rapido, PaintOut, and PaintLive, and the group’s work is a mainstay at the annual exhibitions of the Mall Galleries in London, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, and the New English Art Club.

Having grown a significant following in the north of England, the group have painted with other eminent artists from further afield, such as The Wapping Group in London. Reuben said: “Working as part of such a collective as The Northern Boys cultivates a real camaraderie in a profession that can be isolating. The ability to collaborate with one another, and to critique or take criticism helps each artist to reach the top of their game, and ensures the work is consistently of the very highest quality.”

The show runs from Saturday, April 6 – Sunday, 21 April 2019. Every painting in the show is available for purchase, with prices starting at £275.

En plein air

Perhaps mostly associated with the Impressionists and the Barbizon school, the method of painting en plein air, outdoors in natural light and weather, owes much to two small inventions that artists today take for granted. During the mid-19th Century, the introduction of the box easel and paints in tubes allowed artists to take their materials with them wherever they went, and with this freeing ability to roam came the compulsion for artists to capture not just a point in space, but also a point in time. To depict not a fixed, unchanging landscape, but to inject the canvas with a sense of movement, spirit, and life.