Although Chinese and Japanese artists undoubtedly studied natural scenery, they rarely painted en plein air. Instead of literal fidelity to nature, practicing assured brushwork and studying earlier masters in a studio setting was the bedrock of their art. Western artists, on the other hand, have, particularly since the 19th century, emphasized the importance of en plein air painting either as sketches for a larger painting or as complete works in their own right.

Hongren, Chinese | Waterfalls, 1664 Studying the styles of earlier masters was an essential ingredient of a Chinese painter’s artistic development. An ardent admirer of the literati painter, Ni Zan (1301–1374), Hongren assimilated Ni’s dry ink brushwork into his own landscape style. Hongren’s style was, however, also strongly influenced by the natural scenery of the strange rock formations of Mt. Huang, which he visited many times. On the lower left, Hongren has written a single character, waterfall, the title of the painting, followed by his seal. A seal at the lower right is that of a collector who formerly owned the painting.

William Trost Richards, American | St. John’s Head, Hoy, Orkneys, ca. 1892

William Trost Richards, an important American marine painter born in Philadelphia, travelled to the Scottish Isles in the early 1890s. There he created small oil sketches—such as this one of weather-beaten rocks—that captured the dramatic geological features of the sea cliffs of St. John’s Head at Hoy, an island in Orkneys. Richards stood atop the towering cliffs to paint this marine view in which only a small glimpse of the sea is visible. Dedicated to rendering the natural world with fidelity, Richards likely made this quick study on site as a visual aid for a larger, more detailed painting created in his studio.