Sympozjum – Plener Szlak Kopernika

Abstract

Symposium-“plein-air” (outdoors) painting on the Copernicus Trail

This article is an attempt to illustrate the history of the plein-air (outdoors) painting organized in 1971 by the Olsztyn and Waszeta Association of Polish Artists and Designers in cooperation with the Department of Culture of the Presidium of the Voivodeship National Council in Olsztyn. This event was organized on the occasion of the forthcoming 500th birthday of Nicolaus Copernicus. All the artists participating in the plein-air painting were asked to develop a spatial concept for one of tourist trails, crossing the Olsztyn region, named after Copernicus. In this article I mention the interpenetration of some concepts: commemorating Nicolaus Copernicus linked with Varmia, the artists’ participation in shaping the environment and raising society through art and the propaganda of the authorities at that time, aiming at — by using the name of the famous astronomer — popularizing the northern area of Poland belonging to the Recovered Territories, the cultural and economic achievements of Varmia and Masuria and the preservation of Polish culture throughout this territory.