The awards for the January 2025 PleinAir Salon Art Competition were announced on February 27th. The selections were made by judge, Mark D. Mitchell, Curator of American Paintings & Sculpture at Yale University Art Gallery. The overall and category winners will now be included in the judging for the 14th Annual PleinAir Salon Competition being awarded on May 19th at the Plein Air Convention & Expo.
FIRST PLACE
Charlotte von Weissenberg (Sweden), The Yellow Flower (den gula blomman)
Oil, 15.8×11.8 in.
“The first place recipient transported me. The steep perspective of the forest floor combines impression and detail in a marvelous demonstration of virtuosity that I couldn’t stop exploring. The painting creates a magical world of visual sensation.”
SECOND PLACE
Deborah Chabrian, Emily’s Peonies
Watercolor, 16×22 in.
“The still life that received second place integrates compositional grace with striking delicacy. The challenging forms, translucency, and color sensibility of the flowers and vases impressed me. Even the movement of color in the wall behind the peonies captured my attention.”
THIRD PLACE
Matthew Cutter, Cloudbreak
Oil, 48×48 in.
“The winner of the third place award combined abstraction and figuration in a way that I found ambitious and rewarding. The movement of complex layers of clouds over and behind one another breathes life into the sky using a limited palette. The contrast in technique between the water and sky reinforced the painting’s sense of recession and vastness of space.”
CATEGORY WINNERS
Each category award winner is now entered into the Annual Competition. Judges will review all the winners from the 14th Annual PleinAir Salon, and we will award over $22,000 at the Annual Competition Awards Ceremony on May 19th at the Plein Air Convention & Expo in Reno, NV.
CATEGORY HONORABLE MENTIONS
The category honorable mention recipients are eligible to re-enter their paintings into future competitions.
TOP 100 FINALISTS
Each month all the entries are reviewed and scored by our guest judge. The paintings with the highest scores become the Top 100 Finalists. (In the event of tied scores, there may be more than 100). The awards for the monthly competition are selected from this group of finalists.
Click here to view all the entrants to the January PleinAir Salon Art Competition.
