Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky is truly the greatest marine painter of all time. His works excite the minds and force him to spend hours examining the paintings in great detail. He is known and praised throughout the world. Where are the paintings of Aivazovsky, and where do you need to go to see the work of the master? Read about all this in our article.
Biography
The future Russian painter, master-marine painter of Armenian origin Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky was born on July 29, 1817 in Feodosia. Being the son of an Armenian merchant, Hovhannes (Ivan) developed from the very childhood comprehensively, but gave the greatest preference to drawing and playing the violin. Thanks to the good and close relations of his father with the head of the Tauride province, Ivan was able to study at the Tauride gymnasium in Simferopol, after which he easily entered the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. At the academy, Ivan Aivazovsky was engaged in landscape painting in the class of Professor Maxim Vorobyov and battle painting in the class of Professor Alexander Sauerweid.
Studying at the academy was very successful and fruitful. It was there that the first paintings of the marine painter appeared: “Study of air over the sea”, marked with a silver medal at the internal exhibition and “Calm”, written in 1837, which was marked with a gold medal of the first degree.
Given the leaps and bounds on the path to success, the Academy Council decided to prematurely release his best student and give him the opportunity to work in Crimea on his own, and then send him abroad on a business trip.
From this moment, the creative path of an outstanding painter begins, having written over 6,000 paintings in his life.
Paintings by Aivazovsky in the Tretyakov Gallery
Despite the impressive list of masterpieces, only seven of them appear in the gallery. The list of Aivazovsky’s works is as follows:
- "View of the Leander Tower in Constantinople" (1848).
- "View of the seaside in the vicinity of St. Petersburg" (1835).
- "Moonlit Night on the Bosphorus" (1894).
- "The seashore" (1840).
- "Gulf of Naples in the morning" (1893).
- The Rainbow (1873).
- The Black Sea (1881).
"View of the Leander Tower in Constantinople"
The painting was painted in 1848. I.K. Aivazovsky often traveled, and on his way he met interesting architectural ensembles, which were reflected in his works. The Leander Tower, also known as Maiden’s Tower, was built at the beginning of the 12th century on the small island of the Bosphorus Strait and still illuminates the way for ships. She is also the place of their mooring.
In the picture, the tower is illuminated by the setting sun, whose rays, reflecting from the waves, give the sea pearlescent colors. In the background, as if "behind the back" of the Maiden’s Tower, the silhouettes of the buildings of the beautiful city are located. The tones in which the marine painter portrayed the "guardian of the sea" and the surrounding area give the picture a romantic mood. Aivazovsky’s painting came to the Tretyakov Gallery in 1925. She immediately found her fans and admirers.
"View of the seaside in the vicinity of St. Petersburg"
Surprisingly, in this painting, written in 1835, the sea is not in the center of the plot. Here it plays a secondary role. The sea rests peacefully under a blanket of dense clouds covering the sky. In the picture, sea waves do not rage, do not form foam, do not beat against overhanging rocks. On the contrary, it looks very calm, pacifying.
In the foreground, the artist depicted a boat. She got bogged down in the sand. Old, tilted to the side, without a sail, she served her age to that person who is sitting on board. He, like this boat, is old and sad. The boat will no longer catch the cheerful wind, will not go on a long voyage. She either made a hole or simply dried up, and now it has fallen to her lot to "die" on this deserted shore. And somewhere in the distance, as if teasing her, the sail of a ship that went to conquer new seas and oceans is whitening. He still has everything ahead, and a cheerful wind helps him sail farther and farther towards new shores.
"Moonlit Night on the Bosphorus"
Another of Aivazovsky’s paintings in the Tretyakov Gallery. The landscape was created by the master in 1894. All the elements presented in the picture are printed on the canvas from memory. The artist had an incredible visual memory, which allowed him to draw all the smallest details into details.
At the head of the picture is the sea. Aivazovsky conveyed all the charm of water in the moonlight. The moon is unusually bright, full and not hidden by clouds. Somewhere near the coast, people swim in boats, and on the very shore people walk in the evening of Istanbul. Despite the dark expanse of water, the picture depicts, rather, late evening, not night. The sky has not yet had time to turn into dark colors, which means that the sun has not yet set completely, and the moon has already taken its throne.
The picture looks so real that the viewer slowly plunges into this warm and beautiful night. I would like, like these people on the shore, to fall into serenity and just walk.
Seaside
The painting was painted by a 23-year-old marine painter in 1840. Aivazovsky’s painting "Sea Coast" was painted in the homeland of the painter - in the Crimea. There is nothing more eye-catching than a sea demonstrating its character. And the waves have not yet begun to rage. They seem to have just "warmed up" to turn into a storm. Particularly interesting in this picture is the smooth transition of the light surface of the sea into almost dark. This is due to the fact that a little further from the coast, lead clouds begin to thicken. In some places the rays of the sun can no longer reach the sea - a storm is approaching.
Looking at the picture, the viewer, like the character depicted on it, is on the very shore. Waves that lose strength are revealed to his gaze, which, reaching the shore, are broken into millions of small splashes.
"Gulf of Naples in the morning"
Another painting by Aivazovsky in the Tretyakov Gallery. This creation of the artist’s hand refers to the period when he was on a business trip in Italy. At that time he wrote about 50 sea landscapes.
In this work, Ivan Konstantinovich managed to fully convey the serenity of the Neapolitan morning. The landscape is depicted in soft colors. Behind the steaming volcano Vesuvius, the first rays of the rising sun are visible. The sea is calm and beautiful. The shape of a crescent moon, which transfers power into the hands of the sun, barely glows above it. In the foreground are fishermen in their boats. They are turned with their backs to the sun, which makes their silhouettes slightly blurry, but still alive.
The work is a bit like Aivazovsky’s painting “Moonlit Night on Capri,” which is not presented in the gallery. This is not surprising, because the artist, inspired by the landscapes of Naples, created in that place a large number of works of art.
"Rainbow"
Each work of the marine painter is saturated with romanticism. It is present even in the image of a storm. Aivazovsky in this picture conveyed all the horror and all the beauty of a huge wave that covered the horizon. It is also clearly visible how sailors, fleeing a shipwreck, risk forever remaining in the abyss of the waves of the storm. However, in this landscape the leading role is occupied not by them, but by the rainbow. This is an amazing natural phenomenon that manifests itself in the play of light. Rainbow seems to be the only bright moment in the situation of sailors. She paints the water spray of deadly seawater in amazingly beautiful colors.
The picture is so realistic that the viewer almost becomes a participant in the events. When you face Aivazovsky’s work, you want to catch more air before the waves hit the boat - and the viewer. The ship abandoned by the crew is about to roll over and disappear into the abyss of surging waves. Everything seems to end soon. And after that the clouds will disperse and a peace will be established on the sea, where the rainbow will continue to shine.
"Black Sea"
The painting was painted in 1881 and then acquired by the creator of the gallery. At the head of the picture is the element itself. It is felt that the storm is about to begin, as the clouds are already gathering, and the crests of the waves are growing noticeably. The palette of the canvas itself is unusually rich. It contains harmless green shades reminiscent of past tranquility, and a piece of blue sky, which remembers serenity, and blackening waves closer to the horizon, symbolizing the inevitability of the raging elements. The sky and the wave are harmoniously combined with each other, striving to become one. The absence of man only gives the creatures of nature additional independence - they seem alive and omnipotent. Somewhere in the distance you can see a lone ship. He is tiny and helpless in front of the sea, which can absorb him in a split second. This once again testifies to the insignificance before the elements and at the same time speaks of the courage of the sailors. It manifests itself in a thirst for wanderings, despite the bad weather.
Ivan Konstantinovich masterfully conveyed the nature of things. The picture is inspiring, the picture lives and makes the viewer live. She, as it were, hints at the fact that we are breathing while a storm is boiling inside us. She calls for an understanding of our insignificance, but at the same time hints that one should not be afraid to swim against the tide.
Summary
Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky made a huge contribution to the development of painting. His creations excite the imagination, and mastery is recognized throughout the world. He is a unique marine painter, who managed to convey all the power and beauty of water in his paintings. Aivazovsky made him take a fresh look at the sea and was able to convey all the sensations from what he himself managed to see.
His paintings were acquired not only by wealthy individuals, but also by dignitaries, including Nicholas I, the King of Naples Ferdinand II Karl, Pope Gregory XVI. The Chaos painting, recognized as a masterpiece, not only shocked the brine’s imagination, but also expanded the collection of rare paintings by the Vatican. It is stored there today.
For Aivazovsky, the time is not scary. His creations will excite the imagination for hundreds of years. He showed the world a new wonder of the world, thanks to which true connoisseurs of art were able to taste the delights of the “Aivaz Sea”.