{"id":37315,"date":"2026-05-25T13:51:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T11:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/warsztatykultury.pl\/wydarzenia\/the-invisible-nature-of-air-in-the-paintings-of-great-masters-lecture\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T13:53:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T11:53:32","slug":"the-invisible-nature-of-air-in-the-paintings-of-great-masters-lecture","status":"publish","type":"mec-events","link":"https:\/\/warsztatykultury.pl\/en\/wydarzenia\/the-invisible-nature-of-air-in-the-paintings-of-great-masters-lecture\/","title":{"rendered":"The invisible nature of air in the paintings of great masters | lecture"},"content":{"rendered":"

About<\/h2>\n

Although invisible, it has fascinated the art world for centuries with its ephemerality, movement, and symbolism. Air in painting has taken many forms. Kamila \u015apiewla-Kasperek will discuss how, across different eras, artists attempted to capture this most immaterial of the elements.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Air<\/strong>, as an element in painting, has been depicted over the centuries as an invisible force that artists have \u201cmaterialised\u201d through movement \u2013 dynamic representations of wind bending trees, driving clouds, or stirring waves, as well as the motion of flowing garments or hair. It was also portrayed through illusionistic techniques aimed at conveying depth, atmosphere, and light within space. Key methods developed over time include aerial perspective, which lightens and cools distant planes, and sfumato, which creates soft transitions and simulates the vibration of air. Clouds and the sky served as a visible form of air, especially in Baroque and Romantic art. <\/p>\n

When artists finally left their studios (en plein air<\/em>) to paint air directly, they focused on light and atmosphere as never before. They used luminous colours, blues, and whites to convey the transparency or density of the air. They also applied impasto \u2014 thick layers of paint \u2014 which allowed them to create the texture of clouds or a dense atmosphere.<\/p>\n

The lecture will present selected aspects related to its main subject \u2013 air in painting. It is often associated in art and culture with the spiritual realm, transcendence, and fleeting. It is also linked with breath, thought, and ideas. Artists frequently depicted the element of air in personified form (e.g. as Juno, wind deities, sylphs, or blowing putti), or symbolically through birds, figures playing wind instruments, or rising smoke. In art and culture, air symbolises freedom, the space between heaven and earth, and communication.<\/p>\n

We warmly invite you to the final lecture in the series on the so-called Four Elements in painting. It will be delivered by Kamila \u015apiewla-Kasperek.<\/p>\n

Why attend this event?<\/h2>\n