Ivan Aivazovsky 1817 - 1900
Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (1817-1900) was born
in the family of a merchant of Armenian origin in the
town of Feodosia, Crimea. His parents were under strained
circumstances and he spent his childhood in poverty.
With the help of people who had noticed the talented
youth, he entered the Simpheropol gymnasium, and then
the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, where he took the
landscape painting course and was especially interested
in marine landscapes. In the autumn of 1836 Aivazovsky
presented 5 marine pictures to the Academic exhibition,
which were highly appreciated. In 1837, Aivazovsky received
the Major Gold Medal for Calm in the Gulf of Finland
(1836) and The Great Roads at Kronstadt (1836), which
allowed him to go on a long study trip abroad. However
the artist first went to the Crimea to perfect himself
in his chosen genre by painting the sea and views of
Crimean coastal towns.
During
the period of 1840-1844 Aivazovsky, as a pensioner
of the Academy of Arts, spent time in Italy, traveled
to Germany, France, Spain, and Holland. He worked
much and had many exhibitions, meeting everywhere
with success. He painted a lot of marine landscapes,
which became very popular in Italy: The Bay of Naples
by Moonlight (1842), Seashore. Calm (1843), Malta.
Valetto Harbour (1844). His works were highly appreciated
by J.W.M. Turner, a prominent English landscape and
marine painter. In the course of his work, Aivazovsky
evolved his own method of depicting the motion of
the sea – from memory, without preliminary sketches,
limiting himself to rough pencil outlines. Aivazovsky’s
phenomenal memory and romantic imagination allowed
him to do all this with incomparable brilliance. The
development of this new method reflected the spirit
of the age, when the ever-increasing romantic tendencies
put an artist's imagination to the front.
When
in 1844 the artist returned to St. Petersburg, he
was awarded the title of Academician, and became attached
to the General Naval Headquarters. This allowed him
to travel much with Russian fleet expeditions on different
missions; he visited Turkey, Greece, Egypt, America.
From 1846 to 1848 he painted several canvases with
naval warfare as the subject; the pictures portrayed
historical battles of the Russian Fleet The Battle
of Chesme (1848), The Battle in the Chios Channel
(1848), Meeting of the Brig Mercury with the Russian
Squadron... (1848).
Towards the 1850s the romantic features in Aivazovsky’s
work became increasingly pronounced. This can be seen
quite clearly in one of his best and most famous paintings
The Ninth Wave (1850) and also in Moonlit Night (1849),
The Sea. Koktebel. (1853), Storm (1854) and others.
The process, which determined the development of Russian
art in the second half of the 19th century, also affected
Aivazovsky. A new and consistently realistic tendency
appeared in his work, although the romantic features
still remained.
