Frederik Collett was the first Norwegian painter who had built himself an open-air studio. He had seen this in use by the English painters during his period of study in Wales, and constructed several different types, both for themselves and for others. These simple structures made it possible to sit outside, even in midwinter and paint directly by nature.

While Collett's teacher Gude, who was also busy open-air painting, contented himself with collecting sketches in the free nature, the English painters endeavored to paint the whole picture outdoors. Preferably they should also just paint under identical light and weather conditions. The same method was later adopted by the French Impr...