LAHAINA — Jean Stern, executive director of the Irvine Museum in Irvine, California, and a recognized authority on California Impressionism, is excited to once again serve as a guest speaker and juror during the upcoming Maui Plein Air Painting Invitational. 

His free lecture and slideshow titled “American Masters: From Frederic Remington to Mark Rothko” will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m. at the Pioneer Inn in Lahaina.

Stern credits the popularity and power of plein air painting to the fact that nature and the human experience are intertwined. He said that people who live in cities or work in busy places can find the right painting a powerful source of calm and centering.

According to Stern, you do not need an expert to tell you what the painting means — you know right away if it is good.

The Irvine Museum is the only museum in California dedicated to the preservation and display of California Impressionism or Plein Air paintings, an art style that flourished in California from 1890 to 1930.

He considers some of the artists participating in the Maui Plein Air Painting Invitational among the best plein air artists working today.

“Events like this bring out the best in the artists and in the people who attend the exhibitions,” said Stern. “I have not yet found a more agreeable locale for enjoying great art and good friends than Lahaina.”

 “My lecture this year will discuss ten great American artists. Five of them are artists that most people will know, such as William Merritt Chase, James Abbott Whistler, John Singer Sargent and Frederic Remington, and five that they probably may not know but will surely agree that they deserve to be seen as great,” Stern added.

The Maui Plein Air Painting Invitational returns Feb. 13-20, 2010, and will feature 26 of the finest plein air painters from Hawaii and the Mainland.

The event offers visitors and local residents the opportunity to watch the artists at work, learn about outdoor painting and support art activities in

the community.  

The invitational is interspersed with free special events to gather the artists and public throughout the week.

The 2010 event is coordinated by Islanders-Hawaii Plein Air Painters, West Maui Cultural Council, and The Village Gallery. Event sponsors include the county Office of Economic Development; Hawaii Tourism Authority; Maui No Ka ‘Oi Magazine; Kaanapali Land Management Corp.; The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua; Pioneer Inn; Pacific’O Restaurant; Maui Land & Pineapple Co.; Maui Printing Co.; and The Irvine Museum, with donations from local businesses, including Maui Grown Coffee Company Store, Maui Prime, Tropic Water and The Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences, Kapalua Bay.

All events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.MauiPleinAirPainting.com.