The Black Sea is the permanent and most frequent object of the image of Ivan Aivazovsky. A native of Feodosia, the great marine painter almost knew by heart the native shores, so the waters of the Black Sea in his work are so diverse. “The Black Sea” is a picture of Aivazovsky, which attracts with its simplicity and inner strength. It depicts nothing but the sea, and this is what makes it subtle and beautiful.
Marine painter Ivan Aivazovsky
The real name of the recognized master of the sea landscape is Hovhannes Ayvazyan, he comes from the family of an impoverished Armenian merchant. Due to the difficult financial situation, young Aivazovsky could not afford a worthy training in the art of drawing and painting, until he attracted the attention of the chief architect Theodosia with his natural talent.
After the initial help from his benefactor, Aivazovsky managed to quickly gain recognition and popularity. An important role in achieving the status of an academician of the arts was played by his unique manner of depicting water in general and seascapes in particular.
The painter’s talent was not limited to images of the sea, as evidenced by his numerous portraits, rare genre compositions and subjects on religious subjects. However, the only and unquenchable passion of Aivazovsky was the sea.
The Black Sea in the work of Aivazovsky
Despite the fact that the “Black Sea” (Aivazovsky’s painting, written in 1881) is the only canvas of this name, the great marine painter often depicted the waters of the Black Sea on his canvases. The artist was born in Feodosia and lived there most of his life. Aivazovsky believed that water cannot be drawn from nature, since this is the most unstable and variable of the elements. However, the shores and waves of his native Black Sea were so familiar to him that he could from memory depict their various states.
Among the author’s vast artistic heritage, the largest number of paintings is dedicated to the Black Sea, which was a constant theme of the artist. Aivazovsky portrayed the Black Sea in all its guises - in calm and in a storm, day and night, in the rays of the morning sun or in the fire of sunset. The work of the great marine painter leaves no doubt in his love and affection for his native shores.
Description of the painting by Aivazovsky "Black Sea"
Despite the frequent depiction of their native coasts, in the creative heritage of Aivazovsky there is only one picture, which is simply called “The Black Sea”. This canvas was created by the artist in 1881 and gives viewers a view of the boundless expanse of sea frozen on canvas just before the storm. The second name of the picture is “A storm begins to break out on the Black Sea”.
“The Black Sea” is a picture of Aivazovsky, characterized by the simplicity of the plot and almost ideal proportions of the composition. The canvas depicts a darkened sea with frequent, turbulent, but not yet high waves, decorated with small foam crests. Such waves, pierced by beams of light and as if shining from within, were called by the artist’s contemporaries “Aivazovsky waves”.
The horizon line divides the picture almost perfectly into two equal parts - a stormy sea below, a darkened sky from above, and between them a thin strip of land and a lone sail aspiring towards it barely peeps through the curtain of fog.
Picture analysis
“The Black Sea” is a picture of Aivazovsky, which attracts the eyes with laid-back harmony and an unusually realistic color palette. In addition to the fact that the picture is compositionally divided in half into sea and sky, the elements of these two parts seem to be reflected in each other.
The dark clouds merge to the right and form an equilateral wedge with the dark waves of the raging sea. The play of light and shadow in the picture creates a living composition, the dynamism of which is emphasized by the slightly tilted horizon line to the left.
The symmetry of the forms in the picture is the opposite of the asymmetry in the application of colors: while the sky is full of a rich palette of shades, among which are lilac, blue, azure, gray and ivory, the sea stretching under the sky cannot boast of such a chromatic variety. The sea in Aivazovsky’s painting “The Black Sea” is made in blue-green, muted colors. The painting "The Black Sea" (Aivazovsky masterfully depicted the state of the water element) should not conquer with an abundance of details and a riot of colors, but with realism, natural beauty and the strength of the raging sea.
The Black Sea on other canvases by Aivazovsky
The Black Sea was the eternal theme of Aivazovsky and never for a long time left the canvases on which the great marine painter worked. The artist’s works glorify the beauty, variability and natural strength of the water element, therefore it is not surprising that the Black Sea close to Aivazovsky is shown in his paintings in all its diversity and inconstancy.
The calm and serene Black Sea can be seen in the paintings “Entrance to the Sevastopol Bay” and “Gurzuf”, and its waters, pierced by the rays of the setting sun, are captured on the canvases “View of the Sea from the Crimean Mountains” and “Sunset at the Crimean Shores”. The description of Aivazovsky’s painting “The Storm on the Black Sea” is complicated by the fact that there are three paintings with the same name in the marine painter’s legacy.
Aivazovsky portrayed the Black Sea in the first rays of the rising sun ("Sunrise in Feodosia") and in a gale ("View of Odessa from the sea"). In the artist’s paintings, sea ​​waves are absorbed by fog (“Foggy Morning”) or lit by a bright moon (“Theodosius. Moonlit Night”). Each image of the Black Sea suggests that the marine painter Ivan Aivazovsky carefully kept it in his memory all his life and even in Italy did not stop writing the views of his native coast.