Why is the Aivazovsky Sea so alive, breathing and transparent? What is the axis of any of his paintings? Where should we look to enjoy his masterpieces to the fullest? As he wrote: is it long, short, joyful or painful? And what does impressionism have to do with Aivazovsky?
Of course, Aivazovsky was born a genius. But there was also a craft that he mastered brilliantly and in the intricacies of which one wants to understand. So, from what were the sea foam and lunar paths of Aivazovsky born? ..
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Storm on rocky shores. 102×73 cm.
"Secret colors", Aivazovsky wave, glazing
Ivan Kramskoy wrote to Pavel Tretyakov: “Aivazovsky probably has the secret of composing paints, and even the paints themselves are secret; I have never seen such bright and pure tones even on the shelves of Muscat shops. Some of Aivazovsky's secrets have come down to us, although the main one is not a secret at all: in order to write the sea like that, you need to be born by the sea, live a long life near it, for which you never get fed up with it.
The famous “Aivazovsky wave” is a foamy, almost transparent sea wave, which feels like it is moving, swift, alive. The artist achieved transparency using the glazing technique, that is, applying the thinnest layers of paint on top of each other. Aivazovsky preferred oil, but often his waves seem like watercolors. It is as a result of glazing that the image acquires this transparency, and the colors seem very saturated, but not due to the density of the stroke, but due to the special depth and subtlety. Aivazovsky's virtuoso glazing is a delight for collectors: most of his paintings are in excellent condition - the thinnest layers of paint are less prone to cracking.
Aivazovsky wrote rapidly, often creating works in one session, so his glazing technique had author's nuances. Here is what Nikolai Barsamov, long-term director of the Feodosia Art Gallery and the greatest connoisseur of Aivazovsky’s work, writes about this: “... he sometimes glazed water over a semi-dry underpainting. Often the artist glazed the waves at their base, which gave depth and strength to the colorful tone and achieved the effect of a transparent wave. Sometimes glazing darkened significant planes of the picture. But glazing in Aivazovsky's painting was not an obligatory last stage of work, as was the case with the old masters with the three-layer method of painting. All his painting was basically carried out in one step, and glazing was often used by him as one of the ways to apply a paint layer on white ground at the beginning of work, and not just as final registrations at the end of work. The artist sometimes used glazing at the first stage of work, covering significant planes of the picture with a translucent layer of paint and using the white ground of the canvas as a luminous lining. So sometimes he wrote water. Skillfully distributing a layer of paint of various densities over the canvas, Aivazovsky achieved a true transmission of the transparency of water.
Aivazovsky turned to glazes not only when working on waves and clouds, but with their help he was able to breathe life into the land. “Aivazovsky painted earth and stones with coarse bristly brushes. It is possible that he specially trimmed them so that the hard ends of the bristles left furrows on the paint layer., - says art critic Barsamov. — The paint in these places is usually laid in a dense layer. As a rule, Aivazovsky almost always glazed the ground. The glazing (darker) tone, falling into the furrows from the bristles, gave a kind of liveliness to the colorful layer and greater reality to the depicted form.
As for the question “Where did the colors come from?”, it is known that in recent years he bought paints from the Berlin company Mewes. Everything is simple. But there is also a legend: as if Aivazovsky bought paints from Turner. Only one thing can be said about this: it is theoretically possible, but even if so, Aivazovsky definitely did not paint all 6,000 of his works with Turner paints. And the picture that the impressed Turner dedicated the poem to was created by Aivazovsky even before he met the great British marine painter.
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Bay of Naples on a moonlit night. 1842, 92×141 cm.
“In your picture I see the moon with its gold and silver, standing above the sea, reflected in it. The surface of the sea, on which a light breeze catches up with a quivering swell, seems to be a field of sparks. Forgive me, great artist, if I made a mistake in mistaking the picture for reality, but your work fascinated me, and delight took possession of me. Your art is eternal and powerful, because you are inspired by genius", - poems by William Turner about Aivazovsky's painting "The Bay of Naples on a moonlit night."
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Among the waves. 1898, 285×429 cm.
The main thing is to start, or At the pace of Aivazovsky
Aivazovsky always began work with the image of the sky, and he wrote it in one go - it could be 10 minutes or 6 hours. He painted the light in the sky not with the side surface of the brush, but with its end, that is, he “illuminated” the sky with numerous quick touches of the brush. The sky is ready - you can relax, get distracted (however, he allowed himself this only with paintings that took a lot of time). The sea could write in several passes.
To work on a painting for a long time in the view of Ivan Aivazovsky is, for example, to paint one canvas for 10 days. That is how much it took the artist, who at that time was 81 years old, to create his largest painting - "Among the Waves". At the same time, according to his confession, his whole life was a preparation for this picture. That is, the work required maximum effort from the artist - and for ten whole days. But in the history of art, it is not uncommon for paintings to be painted for twenty or more years (for example, Fyodor Bruni painted his “Copper Serpent” for 14 years, started in 1827, and finished in 1841).
In Italy, Aivazovsky at a certain period made friends with Alexander Ivanov, the same one who wrote The Appearance of Christ to the People for 20 years, from 1837 to 1857. They even tried to work together, but soon quarreled. Ivanov could work on a sketch for months, trying to achieve the special accuracy of a poplar leaf, while Aivazovsky managed to walk all around and paint several pictures during this time: “I can’t write quietly, I can’t pore for months. I don’t leave the picture until I speak out ”. Such different talents, different ways to create - hard labor and joyful admiration of life - could not stay close for long.
Ivan Aivazovsky next to his painting, photograph, 1898.
Aivazovsky at the easel.
“The atmosphere of the workshop was exceptionally simple. In front of the easel was a simple chair with a wicker reed seat, the back of which was plastered with a rather thick layer of paint, since Aivazovsky had a habit of throwing his hand with a brush behind the back of the chair and sitting half a turn to the picture, looking at it, ”- from the memoirs of Konstantin Artseulov , this grandson of Aivazovsky also became an artist.
Creativity as joy
Aivazovsky's muse (forgive us this pompousness) is joyful, not painful. " By the ease, the apparent ease of the movement of the hand, by the contented expression on the face, one could safely say that such work is a real pleasure., - these are the impressions of an official of the Ministry of the Imperial Court, writer Vasily Krivenko, who watched how Aivazovsky worked.
Aivazovsky, of course, saw that for many artists their gift is either a blessing or a curse, other paintings are written almost with blood, exhausting and exhausting their creator. For him, approaching the canvas with a brush has always been the greatest joy and happiness, he gained special lightness and omnipotence in his workshop. At the same time, Aivazovsky carefully listened to practical advice, did not dismiss the comments of people whom he valued and respected. Although not enough to believe that the lightness of his brush is a drawback.
Plein air VS workshop
Only the lazy did not talk about the importance of working with nature in those years. Aivazovsky, on the other hand, preferred to make fleeting sketches from life, and write in the studio. “Preferred”, perhaps, is not quite the right word, it's not about convenience, it was his principled choice. He believed that it was impossible to depict from nature the movement of the elements, the breath of the sea, the peals of thunder and the flashing of lightning - and that was what interested him. Aivazovsky had a phenomenal memory and considered his task "in nature" to absorb what was happening. Feeling and remembering, in order to return to the studio, throw out these feelings on the canvas - that's why nature is needed. At the same time, Aivazovsky was an excellent copyist. During training with Maxim Vorobyov, he demonstrated this skill to the fullest. But copying - at least someone's paintings, even nature - seemed to him much less than he was able to do.
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Amalfi Bay in 1842. Sketch. 1880s
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Coast in Amalfi. 105×71 cm.
About the rapid work of Aivazovsky and what his sketches from nature were, the artist Ilya Ostroukhov left detailed memories:
“I accidentally got acquainted with the manner of performing artworks by the late famous marine painter Aivazovsky in 1889, during one of my trips abroad, in Biarritz. At about the same time that I arrived in Biarritz, Aivazovsky also arrived there. The venerable artist was already then, as I remember, about seventy years old ... Having learned that I was well acquainted with the topography of the area, [he] immediately pulled me for a walk along the ocean shore. The day was stormy, and Aivazovsky, fascinated by the view of the ocean surf, stopped on the beach ...
Without taking his eyes off the ocean and the landscape of the distant mountains, he slowly took out his tiny notebook and drew only three lines with a pencil - the outline of the distant mountains, the line of the ocean at the foot of these mountains, and the line of the coast from himself. Then we went on with him. After walking about a verst, he stopped again and made the same drawing of several lines in the other direction.
- Cloudy day today Aivazovsky said, and you, please tell me only where the sun rises and sets here.
I pointed. Aivazovsky put a few dots in the book and hid the book in his pocket.
- Now let's go. For me this is enough. Tomorrow I will paint the ocean surf in Biarritz.
The next day, three spectacular pictures of the sea surf were really written: in Biarritz: in the morning, at noon and at sunset ... "
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Biarritz. 1889, 18×27 cm.
Aivazovsky's sun, or what does impressionism have to do with it
The Armenian artist Martiros Saryan noted that no matter how grandiose the storm Aivazovsky portrayed, in the upper part of the canvas a ray of light will always break through the accumulation of thunderclouds - sometimes clear, sometimes thin and barely noticeable: “It is in him, this Light, that the meaning of all the storms depicted by Aivazovsky lies.”
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Storm in the North Sea. XX, 202×276 cm.
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Moonlight night. 1849, 192×123 cm.
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Bay of Naples on a moonlit night. 1892, 73×45 cm.
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Ship "Empress Maria" during a storm. 1892, 224×354 cm.
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Moonlit night in Capri. 1841, 26×38 cm.
If it is the sun, then it will illuminate the blackest storm, if it is a lunar path, then it will fill the entire canvas with its flicker. We are not going to call Aivazovsky either an impressionist or a forerunner of impressionism. But let us quote the words of the patron Alexei Tomilov - he criticizes the paintings of Aivazovsky: “The figures are sacrificed to such an extent that it is not recognizable: in the foreground they are men or women (...) air and water flaunt”. We say about the Impressionists that the main characters of their paintings are color and light, one of the main tasks is the transmission of light-air mass. In the works of Aivazovsky, light is in the first place, and yes, quite right, air and water (in his case, this is about the sky and the sea). Everything else is built around this main thing.
He strives not only to portray plausibly, but to convey sensations: the sun should shine so that you want to close your eyes, the viewer will shrink from the wind, recoil from the wave in fright. The latter, in particular, was done by Repin, when Aivazovsky suddenly opened the door of the room in front of him, behind which stood his "Ninth Wave".
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Ninth shaft. 332×221 cm.
How to look at Aivazovsky's paintings
The artist gave absolutely unambiguous recommendations: you should look for the brightest point on the canvas, the source of light, and, peering intently at it, slide your eyes over the canvas. For example, when he was reproached that "Moonlight Night" was not finished, he argued that if the viewer " will turn his main attention to the moon and gradually, adhering to the interesting point of the picture, will glance at the other parts of the picture in passing, and beyond this, not forgetting that this is a night that deprives us of any reflections, then such a viewer will find that this picture is more finished than how should".
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Moonlit night in Crimea. Gurzuf, 1839, 101×136.5 cm.
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Explosion of the shipKonstantin Aivazovsky is not one of those artists who lose inspiration in the process and leave the work unfinished. But one day this happened to him too - he did not finish the painting "The Explosion of the Ship" (1900). Death intervened. This unfinished work is especially valuable for researchers of his work. It allows you to understand what the artist considered the main thing in the picture, with the study of which elements he began work. We see that Aivazovsky began with the ship and the flame of the explosion - something that will take the viewer by the soul. And the artist left the details, on which the viewer will simply glide with his eyes, for later.
Ship explosion. 1900
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Azure grotto. Naples. 1841, 100×74 cm.
The modern viewer is sometimes discouraged by the intense color of Aivazovsky's paintings, his bright, uncompromising colors. There is an explanation for this. And this is not at all the bad taste of the artist.
Today we look at the marinas of Aivazovsky in museums. Often these are provincial galleries, with a dilapidated interior and no special lighting, which is replaced by simple light from the window. But during the life of Aivazovsky, his paintings hung in rich living rooms and even in palaces. Under stucco ceilings, on walls pasted over with luxurious tapestries, in the light of chandeliers and candelabra. It is quite possible that the artist took care that his paintings were not lost against the background of colorful carpets and gilded furniture.
Connoisseurs say that Aivazovsky's night landscapes, which often look rustic in poor natural light or under rare lamps, come to life, become mysterious and noble, as the artist intended them to be, when viewed by candlelight. Especially those paintings that Aivazovsky painted by candlelight.
Ivan Aivazovsky was born on July 29, 1817. Now, when the value of a painting can be easily measured by its price, Aivazovsky can be safely called one of the most significant Russian painters. Let's take a look at 7 famous paintings by the Feodosian artist.
"View of Constantinople and the Bosphorus" (1856)
In 2012, a new record was set at the British auction Sotheby's for paintings by a Russian marine painter. The canvas titled "View of Constantinople and the Bosporus" was sold for 3 million 230 thousand pounds, which in terms of rubles is more than 153 million.
Appointed to the post of artist of the Admiralty in 1845, Aivazovsky, as part of the Mediterranean geographical expedition, visited Istanbul and the islands of the Greek archipelago. The capital of the Ottoman Empire made an indelible impression on the artist. For several days of his stay, he made dozens of sketches, many of which formed the basis of future paintings. More than 10 years later, from memory, like most of his paintings, Ivan Aivazovsky restored the view of the Constantinople port and the Tophane Nusretiye mosque.
"American Ships at the Rock of Gibraltar" (1873)
Until April 2012, the most expensive of Ivan Aivazovsky's paintings was the work "American ships at the rock of Gibraltar", sold in 2007 at Christie's auction for 2 million 708 thousand pounds.
Aivazovsky also painted this picture from memory. “The movements of the living elements are elusive for the brush: writing lightning, a gust of wind, a splash of a wave is unthinkable from nature. For this, the artist must remember them, and with these accidents, as well as the effects of light and shadows, furnish his picture, ”this is how the artist formulated his creative method.
The Rock of Gibraltar was painted by Aivazovsky 30 years after he visited the British colony. Waves, ships, sailors struggling with the elements, the pink rock itself are the fruit of the artist's fantasy, who worked in his quiet studio in Feodosia. But, fictional, the landscape looks utterly truthful.
"Varangians on the Dnieper" (1876)
The third place among the commercial successes of Aivazovsky is occupied by the painting "Varangians on the Dnieper", which went under the hammer in 2006 for 3 million 300 thousand dollars.
The plot of the picture is the path of the Varangians along the main trade artery of Kievan Rus, the Dnieper. The appeal to the heroic past, rare for Aivazovsky's work, is a tribute to the romantic tradition. In the foreground of the picture is a boat on which strong and brave warriors stand, and among them, apparently, the prince himself. The heroic beginning of the plot is emphasized by the second title of the picture: "The Varangian Saga - the path from the Varangians to the Greeks."
"View of Constantinople" (1852)
The fourth millionaire by Aivazovsky is “View of Constantinople”, another painting based on the impressions of the 1845 trip. Its price was 3 million 150 thousand dollars.
Shortly after the end of the Crimean War, Aivazovsky was returning from Paris, where his solo exhibition was opened. The path of the artist lay through Istanbul. There he was received by the Turkish Sultan and awarded the Nishan Ali Order, IV degree. Since then, Aivazovsky developed a close friendship with the people of Constantinople. He came here more than once: in 1874, 1880, 1882, 1888 and 1890. His exhibitions were held here, he met with the rulers of Turkey and received awards from them.
"St. Isaac's Cathedral on a frosty day" (1891)
St. Isaac's Cathedral on a Frosty Day was sold at Christie's for $2,125,000 in 2004. This is one of the rare urban landscapes of the marine painter.
The whole life of Aivazovsky was connected with Petersburg, although he was born and lived most of it in the Crimea. He moved to St. Petersburg from Feodosia at the age of 16 to enter the Academy of Arts. Soon, thanks to his successes, the young painter makes acquaintances with leading artists, writers, musicians: Pushkin, Zhukovsky, Glinka, Bryullov. At the age of 27, he became an academician of landscape painting at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. And then, during his life, Aivazovsky regularly comes to the capital.
"Constantinople at dawn" (1851)
Sixth place is occupied by another view of Constantinople, this time "Constantinople at dawn". It was sold in 2007 for 1 million 800 thousand dollars. This picture is the earliest of Aivazovsky's "Constantinople millionaires".
The Russian marine painter soon gained recognition in Europe and America as an accomplished landscape master. He was associated with special relations with the eternal military rivals of Russia, the Turks. But the friendship continued until the 90s, when Sultan Abdul-Hamid unleashed a genocide against Armenians in Constantinople and throughout the country. Many of the refugees hid in Feodosia. Aivazovsky provided them with all kinds of assistance, and pointedly threw the awards received from the Turkish government into the sea.
"The Ninth Wave" (1850)
The main theme of Aivazovsky's work is the confrontation between man and the elements. His most famous painting, The Ninth Wave, is only the seventh in value. In 2005, it was sold for 1 million 704 thousand dollars.
In the center of the plot are several sailors who escaped during a storm that raged all night. She scattered the ship to pieces, but they, clinging to the mast, survived. Four hold on to the mast, and the fifth clings to a comrade in hope. The sun is rising, but the trials of the sailors are not over: the ninth wave is approaching. A consistent romantic, Aivazovsky, in this early work, shows the tenacity of people who fight against the elements, but are powerless against it.
A very valuable article for both the viewer and the professional artist.
Why is the Aivazovsky Sea so alive, breathing and transparent? What is the axis of any of his paintings? Where should we look to enjoy his masterpieces to the fullest? As he wrote: is it long, short, joyful or painful? And what does impressionism have to do with Aivazovsky?
Of course, Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky was born a genius. But there was also a craft that he mastered brilliantly and in the intricacies of which one wants to understand. So, from what were the sea foam and moon paths of Aivazovsky born?
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Storm on rocky shores.
"Secret colors", Aivazovsky wave, glazing
Ivan Kramskoy wrote to Pavel Tretyakov: “Aivazovsky probably has the secret of composing paints, and even the paints themselves are secret; I have never seen such bright and pure tones even on the shelves of Muscat shops. Some of Aivazovsky's secrets have come down to us, although the main one is not a secret at all: in order to write the sea like that, you need to be born by the sea, live a long life near it, for which you never get fed up with it.
The famous “Aivazovsky wave” is a foamy, almost transparent sea wave, which feels like it is moving, swift, alive. The artist achieved transparency using the glazing technique, that is, applying the thinnest layers of paint on top of each other. Aivazovsky preferred oil, but often his waves seem like watercolors. It is as a result of glazing that the image acquires this transparency, and the colors seem very saturated, but not due to the density of the stroke, but due to the special depth and subtlety. Aivazovsky's virtuoso glazing is a delight for collectors: most of his paintings are in excellent condition - the thinnest layers of paint are less prone to cracking.
Aivazovsky wrote rapidly, often creating works in one session, so his glazing technique had author's nuances. Here is what Nikolai Barsamov, the long-term director of the Feodosia Art Gallery and the greatest connoisseur of Aivazovsky’s work, writes about this: “... he sometimes glazed water over a semi-dry underpainting. Often the artist glazed the waves at their base, which gave depth and strength to the colorful tone and achieved the effect of a transparent wave. Sometimes glazing darkened significant planes of the picture. But glazing in Aivazovsky's painting was not an obligatory last stage of work, as was the case with the old masters with the three-layer method of painting. All his painting was basically carried out in one step, and glazing was often used by him as one of the ways to apply a paint layer on white ground at the beginning of work, and not just as final registrations at the end of work. The artist sometimes used glazing at the first stage of work, covering significant planes of the picture with a translucent layer of paint and using the white ground of the canvas as a luminous lining. So sometimes he wrote water. Skillfully distributing a layer of paint of various densities over the canvas, Aivazovsky achieved a true transmission of the transparency of water.
Aivazovsky turned to glazes not only when working on waves and clouds, but with their help he was able to breathe life into the land. “Aivazovsky painted earth and stones with coarse bristly brushes. It is possible that he cut them on purpose so that the hard ends of the bristles would leave furrows on the paint layer, says art historian Barsamov. - The paint in these places is usually laid in a dense layer. As a rule, Aivazovsky almost always glazed the ground. The glazing (darker) tone, falling into the furrows from the bristles, gave a kind of liveliness to the colorful layer and greater reality to the depicted form.
As for the question “Where did the colors come from?”, it is known that in recent years he bought paints from the Berlin company Mewes. Everything is simple. But there is also a legend: as if Aivazovsky bought paints from Turner. Only one thing can be said about this: it is theoretically possible, but even if so, Aivazovsky definitely did not paint all 6,000 of his works with Turner paints. And the picture that the impressed Turner dedicated the poem to was created by Aivazovsky even before he met the great British marine painter.
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Bay of Naples on a moonlit night.
“In your picture I see the moon with its gold and silver, standing above the sea, reflected in it. The surface of the sea, on which a light breeze catches up with a quivering swell, seems to be a field of sparks. Forgive me, great artist, if I made a mistake in mistaking the picture for reality, but your work fascinated me, and delight took possession of me. Your art is eternal and powerful, because genius inspires you,” William Turner’s poems about Aivazovsky’s painting Bay of Naples on a Moonlit Night.
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Among the waves.
The main thing is to start, or At the pace of Aivazovsky
Aivazovsky always began work with the image of the sky, and he wrote it in one go - it could be 10 minutes or 6 hours. He painted the light in the sky not with the side surface of the brush, but with its end, that is, he “illuminated” the sky with numerous quick touches of the brush. The sky is ready - you can relax, get distracted (however, he allowed himself this only with paintings that took a lot of time). The sea could write in several passes.
To work on a painting for a long time in the view of Ivan Aivazovsky is, for example, to paint one canvas for 10 days. That is how much it took the artist, who at that time was 81 years old, to create his largest painting - "Among the Waves". At the same time, according to his confession, his whole life was a preparation for this picture. That is, the work required maximum effort from the artist - and for ten whole days. But in the history of art, it is not uncommon for paintings to be painted for twenty or more years (for example, Fyodor Bruni painted his “Copper Serpent” for 14 years, started in 1827, and finished in 1841).
In Italy, Aivazovsky at a certain period made friends with Alexander Ivanov, the same one who wrote The Appearance of Christ to the People for 20 years, from 1837 to 1857. They even tried to work together, but soon quarreled. Ivanov could work on a sketch for months, trying to achieve the special accuracy of a poplar leaf, while Aivazovsky managed to walk all around and paint several pictures during this time: “I can’t write quietly, I can’t pore for months. I don’t leave the picture until I speak out.” Such different talents, different ways to create - hard labor and joyful admiration of life - could not stay close for long.
Ivan Aivazovsky next to his painting, photograph, 1898.
Aivazovsky at the easel.
“The atmosphere of the workshop was exceptionally simple. In front of the easel was a simple chair with a wicker reed seat, the back of which was plastered with a rather thick layer of paint, since Aivazovsky had a habit of throwing his hand with a brush behind the back of the chair and sitting half a turn to the picture, looking at it, ”- from the memoirs of Konstantin Artseulov , this grandson of Aivazovsky also became an artist.
Creativity as joy
Aivazovsky's muse (forgive us this pompousness) is joyful, not painful. “By the ease, apparent ease of hand movement, by the satisfied expression on his face, one could safely say that such work is a real pleasure,” these are the impressions of the official of the Ministry of the Imperial Court, the writer Vasily Krivenko, who watched how Aivazovsky works.
Aivazovsky, of course, saw that for many artists their gift is either a blessing or a curse, other paintings are written almost with blood, exhausting and exhausting their creator. For him, approaching the canvas with a brush has always been the greatest joy and happiness, he gained special lightness and omnipotence in his workshop. At the same time, Aivazovsky carefully listened to practical advice, did not dismiss the comments of people whom he valued and respected. Although not enough to believe that the lightness of his brush is a drawback.
Plein air VS workshop
Only the lazy did not talk about the importance of working with nature in those years. Aivazovsky, on the other hand, preferred to make fleeting sketches from life, and write in the studio. “Preferred”, perhaps, is not quite the right word, it's not about convenience, it was his principled choice. He believed that it was impossible to depict from nature the movement of the elements, the breath of the sea, the peals of thunder and the flashing of lightning - and that was what interested him. Aivazovsky had a phenomenal memory and considered his task "in nature" to absorb what was happening. Feeling and remembering, in order to return to the studio, throw out these feelings on the canvas - that's why nature is needed. At the same time, Aivazovsky was an excellent copyist. During training with Maxim Vorobyov, he demonstrated this skill to the fullest. But copying - at least someone's paintings, even nature - seemed to him much less than he was able to do.
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Amalfi Bay in 1842. Sketch. 1880s
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Coast in Amalfi.
About the rapid work of Aivazovsky and what his sketches from nature were, the artist Ilya Ostroukhov left detailed memories:
“I accidentally got acquainted with the manner of performing artworks by the late famous marine painter Aivazovsky in 1889, during one of my trips abroad, in Biarritz. At about the same time that I arrived in Biarritz, Aivazovsky also arrived there. The venerable artist was already then, as I remember, about seventy years old ... Having learned that I was well acquainted with the topography of the area, [he] immediately pulled me for a walk along the ocean shore. The day was stormy, and Aivazovsky, fascinated by the view of the ocean surf, stopped on the beach ...
Without taking his eyes off the ocean and the landscape of the distant mountains, he slowly took out his tiny notebook and drew only three lines with a pencil - the outline of the distant mountains, the line of the ocean at the foot of these mountains, and the line of the coast from himself. Then we went on with him. After walking about a verst, he stopped again and made the same drawing of several lines in the other direction.
“It’s a cloudy day today,” Aivazovsky said, “and you can only tell me, please, where the sun rises and sets here.
I pointed. Aivazovsky put a few dots in the book and hid the book in his pocket.
- Now let's go. For me this is enough. Tomorrow I will paint the ocean surf in Biarritz.
The next day, three spectacular pictures of the sea surf were really written: in Biarritz: in the morning, at noon and at sunset ... "
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Biarritz. 1889
Aivazovsky's sun, or what does impressionism have to do with it
The Armenian artist Martiros Saryan noted that no matter how grandiose the storm Aivazovsky portrayed, in the upper part of the canvas a ray of light will always break through the accumulation of thunderclouds - sometimes clear, sometimes subtle and barely noticeable: “It is in it, this Light, that the meaning of all depicted by Aivazovsky storms.
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Storm in the North Sea.
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Moonlight night. 1849
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Bay of Naples on a moonlit night. 1892
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. The ship "Empress Maria" during a storm. 1892
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Moonlit night in Capri. 1841
If it is the sun, then it will illuminate the blackest storm, if it is a lunar path, then it will fill the entire canvas with its flicker. We are not going to call Aivazovsky either an impressionist or a forerunner of impressionism. But let's quote the words of patron Alexei Tomilov - he criticizes Aivazovsky's paintings: "The figures are sacrificed to such an extent that it is not possible to recognize: in the foreground they are men or women (...) air and water flaunt." We say about the Impressionists that the main characters of their paintings are color and light, one of the main tasks is the transmission of light-air mass. In the works of Aivazovsky, light is in the first place, and yes, quite right, air and water (in his case, this is about the sky and the sea). Everything else is built around this main thing.
He strives not only to portray plausibly, but to convey sensations: the sun should shine so that you want to close your eyes, the viewer will shrink from the wind, recoil from the wave in fright. The latter, in particular, was done by Repin, when Aivazovsky suddenly opened the door of the room in front of him, behind which stood his "Ninth Wave".
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Ninth shaft.
How to look at Aivazovsky's paintings
The artist gave absolutely unambiguous recommendations: you should look for the brightest point on the canvas, the source of light, and, peering intently at it, slide your eyes over the canvas. For example, when he was reproached that Moonlit Night was not finished, he argued that if the viewer “turns his main attention to the moon and gradually, adhering to the interesting point of the picture, looks at other parts of the picture in passing, and beyond that, not forgetting that this is a night that robs us of all reflection, then such a viewer will find that this picture is more finished than it should be.
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Moonlit night in Crimea. Gurzuf, 1839, 101×136.5 cm.
Konstantin Aivazovsky is not one of those artists who lose inspiration in the process and leave the work unfinished. But one day this happened to him too - he did not finish the painting "The Explosion of the Ship" (1900). Death intervened. This unfinished work is especially valuable for researchers of his work. It allows you to understand what the artist considered the main thing in the picture, with the study of which elements he began work. We see that Aivazovsky began with the ship and the flame of the explosion - something that will take the viewer by the soul. And the artist left the details, on which the viewer will simply glide with his eyes, for later.
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Ship explosion. 1900
Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. Azure grotto. Naples. 1841
The modern viewer is sometimes discouraged by the intense color of Aivazovsky's paintings, his bright, uncompromising colors. There is an explanation for this. And this is not at all the bad taste of the artist.
Fragment of Ivan Aivazovsky's painting "Ship in the Stormy Sea" (Hermitage).
Today we look at the marinas of Aivazovsky in museums. Often these are provincial galleries, with a dilapidated interior and no special lighting, which is replaced by simple light from the window. But during the life of Aivazovsky, his paintings hung in rich living rooms and even in palaces. Under stucco ceilings, on walls pasted over with luxurious tapestries, in the light of chandeliers and candelabra. It is quite possible that the artist took care that his paintings were not lost against the background of colorful carpets and gilded furniture.
Connoisseurs say that Aivazovsky's night landscapes, which often look rustic in poor natural light or under rare lamps, come to life, become mysterious and noble, as the artist intended them to be, when viewed by candlelight. Especially those paintings that Aivazovsky painted by candlelight.
The page is dedicated to Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, a true singer of the sea and his paintings of the sea. Among the paintings of Aivazovsky there is the most famous painting "The Ninth Wave".
The "Ninth Wave" is generally a widespread artistic image in life, a symbol of fatal and mortal danger. There is an ancient belief among the people that it is the ninth wave that is the most powerful and dangerous. Hence the name of Aivazovsky's painting "The Ninth Wave"!
But in other wonderful paintings about the sea, Aivazovsky brilliantly expressed the great and mighty spirit of people opposing the sea element! We are not afraid of the ninth wave!
The query “pictures of the sea” is very popular on the Internet! And he leads to Aivazovsky!
In the photo is a portrait of Aivazovsky.
Stormy sea. Aivazovsky. Ships caught in a severe storm! Aivazovsky's paintings are impressive! Harsh pictures of the sea!
Sea shore. Calm. Aivazovsky. The sea was depicted by the artist Aivazovsky in completely different ways. Here is peace and quiet on the shore and on the sea. A ship is sailing on the sea.
Storm on the sea at night. Aivazovsky. Aivazovsky's paintings are so "talking", they cannot be compared with a photo!
Storm on the sea already in the afternoon. Artist Aivazovsky.
And this is Aivazovsky's painting "Storm on the North Sea". And everywhere the sea is different.
Venetian night. Aivazovsky. Idyllic picture. Wonderful Venice. Aivazovsky's pictures of the sea with both drama and idyll! A fight of opposites!
Evening in Cairo. Aivazovsky.
Sometimes the artist was distracted from his main theme of the sea.
Ship explosion. Aivazovsky. Terrible picture. The photo does not fully reflect what the artist conveyed to us! Aivazovsky's paintings convey to us everything that worried the artist, and at the sight of such a tragedy it is impossible to remain indifferent!
Wave. Aivazovsky. Terrible wave! The second most famous painting after the painting "The Ninth Wave".
The death of Pompeii. Aivazovsky.
The artist was not alien to the historical theme connected with the sea.
Ninth shaft. Aivazovsky. The most famous painting of the artist.
The ship is long gone, it has been destroyed by the sea. Only one mast of the ship remained, on which people courageously and steadfastly fight for their lives. And the warm tones of the picture give the viewer hope for a favorable outcome. "The Ninth Wave" picture is not so much tragic as heroic and hopeful.
Sunset on the sea. Aivazovsky.
Sunset. Aivazovsky.
Picture of another sunset.
Italian landscape.
Italy is a maritime country. What peace! Beauty! Pictures of the sea on the Internet are popular!
Kerch. Aivazovsky. Our Sea of Azov.
Moonlight night. Aivazovsky.
Moon path. Aivazovsky.
Sea with pink cloud. Beauty! Idyllic picture of the sea!
Marine view. Aivazovsky. Dark sea.
Napoleon on Saint Helena. Aivazovsky. History and the sea.
Gulf of Naples. Aivazovsky. Italy and the sea
Niagara Falls. Aivazovsky. Terrible and majestic sight!
Night in Venice. Aivazovsky.
The sea and Aivazovsky have been synonymous for a century and a half. We say “Aivazovsky” - we imagine the sea, and when we see a sea sunset or a storm, a sailboat or a foaming surf, a calm or a sea breeze, we say: “Pure Aivazovsky!”
It is difficult not to recognize Aivazovsky. But today Arthive will show you a rare and little-known Aivazovsky. Aivazovsky unexpected and unusual. Aivazovsky, whom you may not even immediately recognize. In short, Aivazovsky without the sea.
Winter landscape. Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, 1880s
These are graphic self-portraits of Aivazovsky. He's probably unrecognizable here. And more like not his own picturesque images (see below), but his good friend, with whom he traveled around Italy in his youth, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. The self-portrait on the left is Gogol, composing "Dead Souls" at a table littered with drafts.
Even more entertaining is the self-portrait on the right. Why not with a palette and brushes, but with a violin? Because the violin was Aivazovsky's faithful friend for many years. No one remembered who gave it to 10-year-old Hovhannes, a boy from a large and poor family of Armenian settlers in Feodosia. Of course, parents could not afford to hire a teacher. But this was not necessary. Hovhannes was taught to play by itinerant musicians at the Feodosia bazaar. His hearing was excellent. Aivazovsky could pick up any tune, any melody by ear.
The novice artist brought the violin with him to St. Petersburg, played "for the soul." Often at a party, when Hovhannes made useful contacts and began to visit society, he was asked to play the violin. Possessing a complaisant character, Aivazovsky never refused. In the biography of the composer Mikhail Glinka, written by Vsevolod Uspensky, there is the following fragment: “Once at the Dollmaker’s, Glinka met with a student of the Academy of Arts, Aivazovsky. He skillfully sang a wild Crimean song, sitting on the floor like a Tatar, swaying and holding the violin to his chin. Glinka really liked Aivazovsky’s Tatar melodies, his imagination was attracted to the east from his youth ... Two tunes eventually entered the lezginka, and the third into the Ratmir scene in the third act of the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila.
Aivazovsky will take the violin with him everywhere. On the ships of the Baltic squadron, his playing entertained the sailors, the violin sang to them about warm seas and a better life. In St. Petersburg, when he first saw his future wife Yulia Grevs at a social reception (she was just a governess to the master's kids), Aivazovsky did not dare to introduce himself - instead, he would pick up the violin again and start a serenade in Italian.
An interesting question: why in the picture Aivazovsky does not rest the violin on his chin, but holds it like a cello? Biographer Yulia Andreeva explains this feature as follows: “According to numerous testimonies of contemporaries, he held the violin in an oriental manner, resting it on his left knee. That way he could play and sing at the same time.”
Self-portrait of Ivan Aivazovsky, 1874
And this self-portrait of Aivazovsky is just for comparison: unlike the not so widely known previous ones, the reader is probably familiar with it. But if at first Aivazovsky reminded Gogol, then on this one, with sleek sideburns - Pushkin. By the way, Natalya Nikolaevna, the poet's wife, had exactly this opinion. When Aivazovsky was introduced to the Pushkin couple at an exhibition at the Academy of Arts, Natalya Nikolaevna kindly remarked that the artist's appearance very much reminded her of the portraits of the young Alexander Sergeevich.
Petersburg. Crossing the Neva. Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, 1870s
At the first (and if we discard the legends, then the only) meeting, Pushkin asked Aivazovsky two questions. The first one is more than predictable when meeting: where does the artist come from? But the second one is unexpected and even somewhat familiar. Pushkin asked Aivazovsky if he, a southern man, was freezing in Petersburg? Pushkin would have known how right he turned out to be. All winters at the Academy of Arts, young Hovhannes really froze catastrophically.
There are drafts in the halls and classrooms, teachers wrap their backs in downy shawls. 16-year-old Hovhannes Aivazovsky, accepted into the class of Professor Maxim Vorobyov, has frisky fingers numb from the cold. He gets cold, wraps himself in a jacket that is not warm at all, stained with paint, and coughs all the time.
It is especially difficult at night. A moth-eaten blanket does not allow you to warm up. All members are chilled, the tooth does not fall on the tooth, for some reason the ears are especially cold. When the cold does not let you sleep, the student Aivazovsky recalls Feodosia and the warm sea.
Head physician Overlakh scribbles reports to Academy President Olenin about Hovhannes’ poor health: “Academician Aivazovsky, was transferred several years ago to St. I was in the academic infirmary, suffering, as before, and now, with chest pain, dry cough, shortness of breath when climbing stairs and a strong heartbeat.
Isn't that why the "Crossing the Neva", a St. Petersburg landscape rare for Aivazovsky's work, looks like it's teeth cramping from an imaginary cold? It was written in 1877, the Academy is long gone, but the feeling of the piercing cold of Northern Palmyra remains. Giant ice floes reared up on the Neva. Through the cold hazy colors of the purple sky, the Admiralty Needle appears. It's cold for the tiny people in the wagon. Chilly, disturbing - but also fun. And it seems that there are so many new, unknown, interesting things - there, in front, behind a veil of frosty air.
Betrayal of Judas. Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, 1834
The State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg carefully preserves Aivazovsky's sketch "The Betrayal of Judas". It is made on gray paper with white and Italian pencil. In 1834, Aivazovsky was preparing a painting on a biblical theme on the instructions of the Academy. Hovhannes was rather secretive by nature, liked to work alone and did not understand at all how his idol Karl Bryullov was able to write in any crowd of people.
Aivazovsky, on the contrary, preferred solitude for work, so when he showed his comrades at the academy "The Betrayal of Judas", it turned out to be a complete surprise for them. Many simply could not believe that a 17-year-old provincial, only in his second year of study, was capable of such a thing.
And then his detractors came up with an explanation. After all, does Aivazovsky disappear all the time from the collector and patron Alexei Romanovich Tomilov? And that one in the collection has Bryullov, and Poussin, and Rembrandt, and you never know who else. Surely the cunning Hovhannes simply copied a picture of some little-known European master in Russia and passed it off as his own.
Fortunately for Aivazovsky, the president of the Academy of Arts, Alexei Nikolaevich Olenin, turned out to have a different opinion about the “Betrayal of Judas”. Olenin was so impressed with the skill of Hovhannes that he honored him with a high favor - he invited him to stay with him at the Priyutino estate, where Pushkin and Krylov, Borovikovsky and Venetsianov, Kiprensky and the Bryullov brothers visited. The honor for a novice academician is unheard of.
Eastern scene. A coffee shop at the Ortakoy Mosque in Constantinople. Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, 1846
By 1845, the 27-year-old Aivazovsky, whose seascapes are already thundering across Europe from Amsterdam to Rome, is being paid homage in Russia as well. He receives "Anna on the neck" (Order of St. Anna, 3rd degree), the title of academician, 1500 acres of land in the Crimea for 99 years of use, and most importantly - the official naval uniform. The Naval Ministry for services to the Fatherland appoints Aivazovsky the first painter of the Main Naval Staff. Now Aivazovsky must be allowed to enter all Russian ports and all ships, wherever he wishes to go. And in the spring of 1845, at the insistence of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich, the artist was included in the naval expedition of Admiral Litke to Turkey and Asia Minor.
By that time, Aivazovsky had already traveled all over Europe (there were more than 135 visas in his foreign passport, and customs officers were tired of pasting new pages there), but he had not yet been to the lands of the Ottomans. For the first time he sees Chios and Patmos, Samos and Rhodes, Sinop and Smyrna, Anatolia and the Levant. And most of all he was impressed by Constantinople: “My voyage,” Aivazovsky wrote, “with His Imperial Highness Konstantin Nikolaevich was extremely pleasant and interesting, everywhere I managed to sketch sketches for paintings, especially in Constantinople, from which I admire. Probably, there is nothing in the world more majestic than this city, both Naples and Venice are forgotten there.
"Coffee House at the Ortakoy Mosque" is one of the Constantinople views painted by Aivazovsky after this first trip. In general, Aivazovsky's relationship with Turkey is a long and difficult story. He will visit Turkey more than once. The Turkish rulers greatly appreciated the artist: in 1856, Sultan Abdul-Mejid I awarded him the Order of Nitshan Ali, 4th degree, in 1881, Sultan Abdul-Hamid II - a diamond medal. But between these awards was the Russian-Turkish war of 1877, during which Aivazovsky's house in Feodosia was partially destroyed by a shell. However, it is significant that the peace treaty between Turkey and Russia was signed in a hall decorated with paintings by Aivazovsky. When visiting Turkey, Aivazovsky communicated especially warmly with the Armenians living in Turkey, they respectfully called him Ayvaz-efendi. And when, in the 1890s, the Turkish sultan commits a monstrous massacre in which thousands of Armenians die, Aivazovsky defiantly throws Ottoman awards into the sea, saying that he advises the sultan to do the same with his paintings.
Aivazovsky's "Coffee House at the Ortakoy Mosque" is an ideal image of Turkey. Ideal - because peaceful. Sitting relaxed on embroidered pillows and immersed in contemplation, the Turks drink coffee, inhale hookah smoke, listen to unobtrusive melodies. Molten air flows. Time flows between the fingers like sand. No one is in a hurry - there is no need to rush: everything necessary for the fullness of being is already concentrated in the present moment.
Windmills in the Ukrainian steppe at sunset. Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, 1862
It cannot be said that Aivazovsky in the landscape "Windmills in the Ukrainian steppe ..." is unrecognizable. The wheat field in the sunset rays is almost like the shaking surface of the sea, and the mills are the same frigates: in some, the wind inflates the sails, in others, it rotates the blades. Where and, most importantly, when could Aivazovsky be distracted from the sea and become interested in the Ukrainian steppe?
Return from the wedding. Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, 1891
Chumaki on vacation. Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, 1885
Perhaps when he moved his family from Feodosia to Kharkov for a short time? And not idly transported, but hastily evacuated. In 1853, Turkey declared war on Russia, in March 1854 Britain and France joined it - the Crimean War began. In September the enemy was already in Yalta. Aivazovsky urgently needed to save his relatives - his wife, four daughters, an old mother. “With sincere regret,” the artist informed one of the correspondents, “we had to leave our dear Crimea, leaving all our fortune, acquired by our labors over the course of fifteen years. In addition to his family, a 70-year-old mother, he had to take all his relatives with him, and we stopped in Kharkov, as the nearest city to the south and inexpensive for a modest life.
The biographer writes that in the new place, Aivazovsky's wife Yulia Grevs, who had previously actively helped her husband in the Crimea in his archaeological excavations and ethnographic research, "tried to captivate Aivazovsky with archeology or scenes of Little Russian life." After all, Julia so wanted her husband and father to stay with the family longer. It did not work out: Aivazovsky rushed to the besieged Sevastopol. For several days under bombardment, he painted sea battles from nature, and only a special order from Vice Admiral Kornilov forced the fearless artist to leave the theater of operations. Nevertheless, Aivazovsky's legacy contains quite a lot of ethnographic-genre scenes and Ukrainian landscapes: "Chumaks on vacation", "Wedding in Ukraine", "Winter Scene in Little Russia" and others.
Portrait of Senator Alexander Ivanovich Kaznacheev, marshal of the nobility of the Tauride province. Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, 1848
Aivazovsky left relatively few portraits. But he wrote this gentleman more than once. However, it is not surprising: the artist considered Alexander Ivanovich Kaznacheev to be a “second father”. When Aivazovsky was still small, Kaznacheev served as the mayor of Feodosia. In the late 1820s, he began to receive complaints more and more often: in the city someone was playing pranks - painting fences and walls of houses whitewashed with lime. The mayor went to inspect the art. On the walls were figures of soldiers, sailors and silhouettes of ships, induced by samovar coal - I must say, very, very believable. After some time, the city architect Kokh told Kaznacheev that he had figured out the author of these "graffiti". It was 11-year-old Hovhannes, the son of the market head Gevorg Gayvazovsky.
“You draw beautifully,” Kaznacheev agreed, meeting with the “criminal”, “but why on other people's fences ?!” However, he immediately understood: the Aivazovskys are so poor that they cannot buy drawing supplies for their son. And Kaznacheev did it himself: instead of punishment, he gave Hovhannes a stack of good paper and a box of paints.
Hovhannes began to visit the mayor's house and became friends with his son Sasha. And when in 1830 Kaznacheev became the governor of Tavria, he took Aivazovsky, who had become a family member, to Simferopol so that the boy could study at the gymnasium there, and three years later he made every effort to enroll Hovhannes in the Imperial Academy of Arts.
When the grown and famous Aivazovsky returns forever to live in the Crimea, he will maintain friendly relations with Alexander Ivanovich. And even in a sense, he will begin to imitate his “named father”, strenuously taking care of the poor and disadvantaged and founding the “General Workshop” - an art school for local talented youth. And Aivazovsky, according to his own project and at his own expense, will erect a fountain in honor of Kaznacheev in Feodosia.
Caravan in the oasis. Egypt. Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, 1871
On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal was opened for navigation. Laid through the Egyptian deserts, it connected the Mediterranean and Red Seas and became a conditional border between Africa and Eurasia. The inquisitive and still greedy for impressions 52-year-old Aivazovsky could not miss such an event. He came to Egypt as part of a Russian delegation and became the first marine painter in the world to paint the Suez Canal.
“Those pictures in which the main force is the light of the sun ... must be considered the best,” Aivazovsky was always convinced. And just the sun in Egypt was in abundance - just work. Palm trees, sands, pyramids, camels, distant desert horizons and "Caravan in the Oasis" - all this remained in the paintings of Aivazovsky.
And the artist also left amusing memories of the first meeting of the Russian song and the Egyptian desert: “When the Russian steamer entered the Suez Canal, the French steamer ahead of it ran aground, and the swimmers were forced to wait until it was removed. This stop lasted five hours.
It was a beautiful moonlit night, giving some majestic beauty to the deserted shores of the ancient country of the pharaohs, cut off by a canal from the Asian coast.
In order to shorten the time, the passengers of the Russian steamer staged an impromptu vocal concert: Ms. Kireeva, having a beautiful voice, took over the duties of the lead singer, a slender choir picked up ...
And now, on the shores of Egypt, a song about the “Mother Volga”, about the “dark forest”, about the “clear field” sounded and rushed along the waves, silvered by the moon, shining brightly at the turn of the two parts of the world ... "
Catholicos Khrimian in the vicinity of Etchmiadzin. Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, 1895
Portrait of the artist's brother Gabriel Ayvazyan. Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, 1883
Baptism of the Armenian people. Grigor the Enlightener (IV century) Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, 1892
Perhaps it will be new for someone to find out that Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky was a true zealot of the Armenian Apostolic Church, one of the oldest, by the way, Christian churches. The Armenian Christian community was also in Feodosia, and the Synod was located in the "heart of Armenia" - the city of Etchmiadzin.
Aivazovsky's elder brother Sargis (Gabriel) became a monk, then an archbishop and an outstanding Armenian educator. For the artist himself, his religious affiliation was by no means an empty formality. On the most important events of his life, for example, about the wedding, he informed the Synod of Etchmiadzin: “On August 15, 1848, he married Julia, the daughter of Yakov Grevs, an English Lutheran, but he got married in the Armenian church and on the condition that my children from this marriage will also be baptized in the Armenian holy font.”
When family life goes wrong, Aivazovsky will have to ask for permission to dissolve the marriage there.
In 1895, a distinguished guest arrived in Feodosia to Aivazovsky - Catholicos Khrimyan, the head of the Armenian Church. Aivazovsky took him to Stary Krym, where he erected a new one on the site of the destroyed churches and even painted an altar image for it. At a solemn dinner for 300 people in Feodosia, the Catholicos promised the artist: "I, Khrimian Hayrik, in one hand - a cross, in the other - the Bible, I will pray for you and for my poor Armenian people." In the same year, inspired by Aivazovsky, he will paint the painting “Catholicos Khrimyan in the vicinity of Etchmiadzin”.
In five years, 82-year-old Aivazovsky will be gone. His grave in the courtyard of an ancient temple is decorated with an inscription in Armenian: “Born a mortal, he left an immortal memory behind him.”
Anna Nikitichna Burnazyan-Sarkizova, second wife of I.K. Aivazovsky. Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, 1882
It would be unfair to the reader to end our story about the paintings of Aivazovsky, where there is no sea, with the fact of the death of the artist. Moreover, having touched on many important biographical milestones, we never talked about love.
When Aivazovsky was no less than 65 years old, he fell in love. Moreover, he fell in love in a completely boyish way - at first sight and in circumstances that were least conducive to romance. He rode in a carriage through the streets of Feodosia and crossed paths with a funeral procession, which included a young beautiful woman dressed in black. The artist believed that in his native Feodosia he knew everyone by name, but he seemed to see her for the first time and did not even guess who she was to the deceased - daughter, sister, wife. He made inquiries: it turned out - a widow. 25 years. My name is Anna Sarkizova, nee Burnazyan.
The late husband left Anna an estate with a marvelous garden and great wealth for the Crimea - a source of fresh water. A completely wealthy, self-sufficient woman, moreover, 40 years younger than Aivazovsky. But when the artist, trembling and not believing in possible happiness, proposed to her, Sarkizova accepted him.
A year later, Aivazovsky confessed to a friend in a letter: “Last summer I married a lady, an Armenian widow. Previously, I was not familiar with her, but I heard a lot about her good name. Now my life is peaceful and happy. I have not lived with my first wife for 20 years and have not seen her for 14 years. Five years ago, the Synod of Etchmiadzin and the Catholicos allowed me to divorce… Only now I was very afraid to connect my life with a woman of another nation, so as not to shed tears. This happened by the grace of God, and I sincerely thank you for the congratulations.”
For 17 years they will live in love and harmony. As in his youth, Aivazovsky will write a lot and incredibly productively. And he will also have time to show his beloved the ocean: in the 10th year of marriage, they will sail to America through Paris, and, according to legend, this beautiful couple will often be the only people on the ship who are not prone to seasickness. While most of the passengers, hiding in their cabins, waited out the rolling and the storm, Aivazovsky and Anna serenely admired the expanses of the sea.
After the death of Aivazovsky, Anna will become a voluntary recluse for more than 40 years (and she will live to be 88): no guests, no interviews, much less attempts to arrange a personal life. There is something strong-willed and at the same time mysterious in the look of a woman whose face is half hidden by a gas veil, so similar to the translucent surface of water from the seascapes of her great husband, Ivan Aivazovsky.
