In what year was Aivazovsky born and died? Biography. Having attached all the Turkish orders to the collar of the yard dog, he walked through the streets of Feodosia. They say that the whole city joined the procession. Surrounded by a huge crowd, Aivazovsky headed towards the sea. Sun

Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky is a famous Russian marine painter, author of more than six thousand canvases. Professor, academician, philanthropist, honorary member of the Academies of Arts of St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, Rome, Stuttgart, Paris and Florence.

Was born future artist in Feodosia, in 1817, in the family of Gevork and Hripsime Gaivazovsky. Hovhannes’s mother (the Armenian version of the name Ivan) was a purebred Armenian, and his father came from Armenians who migrated from Western Armenia, which found itself under Turkish rule, to Galicia. Gevork settled in Feodosia under the name Gaivazovsky, writing it down in the Polish manner.

Hovhannes's father was amazing person, enterprising, savvy. Dad knew Turkish, Hungarian, Polish, Ukrainian, Russian and even Gypsy languages. In Crimea, Gevork Ayvazyan, who became Konstantin Grigorievich Gaivazovsky, very successfully engaged in trade. In those days, Feodosia grew rapidly, acquiring the status of an international port, but all the successes of the enterprising merchant were reduced to zero by the plague epidemic that broke out after the war with.

By the time Ivan was born, the Gaivazovskys already had a son, Sargis, who took the name Gabriel as a monk, then three more daughters were born, but the family lived in great need. Repsime's mother helped her husband by selling her elaborate embroideries. Ivan grew up as a smart and dreamy child. In the morning, he woke up and ran to the seashore, where he could spend hours watching ships and small fishing boats entering the port, admiring the extraordinary beauty of the landscape, sunsets, storms and calms.


Painting by Ivan Aivazovsky "Black Sea"

The boy painted his first pictures on the sand, and after a few minutes they were washed away by the surf. Then he armed himself with a piece of coal and decorated the white walls of the house where the Gaivazovskys lived with drawings. The father looked, frowning at his son’s masterpieces, but did not scold him, but thought deeply. From the age of ten, Ivan worked in a coffee shop, helping his family, which did not at all prevent him from growing up as an intelligent and talented child.

As a child, Aivazovsky himself learned to play the violin, and, of course, constantly drew. Fate brought him together with the Feodosia architect Yakov Koch, and this moment is considered to be a turning point, defining in the biography of the future brilliant marine painter. Noticing the boy's artistic abilities, Koch supplied young artist pencils, paints and paper, gave the first drawing lessons. The second patron of Ivan was the mayor of Feodosia, Alexander Kaznacheev. The governor appreciated Vanya’s skillful playing of the violin, because he himself often played music.


In 1830, Kaznacheev sent Aivazovsky to the Simferopol gymnasium. In Simferopol, the wife of the Tauride governor, Natalya Naryshkina, drew attention to the talented child. Ivan began to visit her home often, and the society lady put her library, a collection of engravings, and books on painting and art at his disposal. The boy worked incessantly, copied famous works, drew etudes and sketches.

With the assistance of the portrait painter Salvator Tonchi, Naryshkina turned to Olenin, the president of the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, with a request to place the boy in the academy with full board. In the letter, she described in detail Aivazovsky’s talents, his life situation and attached drawings. Olenin appreciated the young man’s talent, and soon Ivan was enrolled in the Academy of Arts with the personal permission of the emperor, who also saw the drawings sent.


At the age of 13, Ivan Aivazovsky became the youngest student at the Academy in Vorobyov’s landscape class. The experienced teacher immediately appreciated the magnitude and power of Aivazovsky’s talent and, to the best of his ability and ability, gave the young man a classical art education, a kind of theoretical and practical basis for the virtuoso painter that Ivan Konstantinovich soon became.

Very quickly the student surpassed the teacher, and Vorobiev recommended Aivazovsky to Philip Tanner, a French marine painter who arrived in St. Petersburg. Tanner and Aivazovsky did not get along in character. The Frenchman dumped all the rough work on the student, but Ivan still found time for his own paintings.

Painting

In 1836, an exhibition was held where the works of Tanner and the young Aivazovsky were presented. One of Ivan Konstantinovich’s works was awarded a silver medal, he was also praised by one metropolitan newspaper, but the Frenchman was reproached for mannerisms. Philip, burning with anger and envy, complained to the emperor about a disobedient student who had no right to exhibit his works at an exhibition without the knowledge of the teacher.


Painting by Ivan Aivazovsky "The Ninth Wave"

Formally, the Frenchman was right, and Nicholas ordered the paintings to be removed from the exhibition, and Aivazovsky himself fell out of favor at court. A talented artist supported the best minds capitals with whom he managed to make acquaintance: , President of the Academy Olenin. As a result, the matter was decided in favor of Ivan, for whom Alexander Sauerweid, who taught painting to the imperial offspring, stood up.

Nikolai awarded Aivazovsky and even sent him and his son Konstantin to the Baltic Fleet. The Tsarevich studied the basics of maritime affairs and fleet management, and Aivazovsky specialized in the artistic side of the issue (it is difficult to write battle scenes and ships without knowing their structure).


Painting by Ivan Aivazovsky "Rainbow"

Sauerweid became Aivazovsky's teacher in battle painting. A few months later, in September 1837, the talented student received gold medal for the painting “Calm”, after which the leadership of the Academy decided to release the artist from educational institution, because it could no longer give him anything.


Painting by Ivan Aivazovsky "Moonlit Night on the Bosphorus"

At the age of 20, Ivan Aivazovsky became the youngest graduate of the Academy of Arts (according to the rules, he was supposed to study for another three years) and went on an paid trip: first to his native Crimea for two years, and then to Europe for six years. The happy artist returned to his native Feodosia, then traveled around the Crimea and took part in the amphibious landing in Circassia. During this time he wrote many works, including peace seascapes and battle scenes.


Painting by Ivan Aivazovsky "Moonlit Night on Capri"

After a short stay in St. Petersburg in 1840, Aivazovsky left for Venice, and from there to Florence and Rome. During this trip, Ivan Konstantinovich met with his older brother Gabriel, a monk on the island of St. Lazarus, and became acquainted with. In Italy, the artist studied the works of great masters and wrote a lot himself. He exhibited his paintings everywhere, and many were sold out immediately.


Painting by Ivan Aivazovsky "Chaos"

The Pope himself wanted to buy his masterpiece “Chaos”. Hearing about this, Ivan Konstantinovich personally presented the painting to the pontiff. Touched by Gregory XVI, he presented the painter with a gold medal, and the fame of the talented marine painter thundered throughout Europe. Then the artist visited Switzerland, Holland, England, Portugal and Spain. On the way home, the ship on which Aivazovsky was sailing was caught in a storm, and a terrible storm broke out. For some time there were rumors that the marine painter had died, but, fortunately, he managed to return home safe and sound.


Painting by Ivan Aivazovsky "Storm"

Aivazovsky had the happy fate of making acquaintances and even friendships with many outstanding people that era. The artist was closely acquainted with Nikolai Raevsky, Kiprensky, Bryullov, Zhukovsky, not to mention his friendship with the imperial family. And yet connections, wealth, fame did not seduce the artist. The main things in his life were always family, ordinary people, and his favorite job.


Painting by Ivan Aivazovsky "Chesme Battle"

Having become rich and famous, Aivazovsky did a lot for his native Feodosia: he founded an art school and an art gallery, a museum of antiquities, sponsored the construction of a railway, and a city water supply fed from his personal source. At the end of his life, Ivan Konstantinovich remained as active and active as in his youth: he visited America with his wife, worked a lot, helped people, was engaged in charity, improvement of his native city and teaching.

Personal life

The personal life of the great painter is full of ups and downs. There were three loves, three women in his destiny. Aivazovsky’s first love was a dancer from Venice, world famous Maria Taglioni, who was 13 years older than him. The artist in love went to Venice to follow his muse, but the relationship was short-lived: the dancer chose ballet over the young man’s love.


In 1848, Ivan Konstantinovich Great love married Julia Grevs, the daughter of an Englishman who was the court physician of Nicholas I. The young couple went to Feodosia, where they had a magnificent wedding. In this marriage, Aivazovsky had four daughters: Alexandra, Maria, Elena and Zhanna.


In the photo the family looks happy, but the idyll was short-lived. After the birth of her daughters, the wife changed in character, suffering from a nervous illness. Julia wanted to live in the capital, attend balls, give parties, host social life, and the artist’s heart belonged to Feodosia and ordinary people. As a result, the marriage ended in divorce, which did not happen often at that time. With difficulty, the artist managed to maintain relationships with his daughters and their families: his grumpy wife turned the girls against their father.


Last love the artist met already at an advanced age: in 1881 he was 65 years old, and his chosen one was only 25 years old. Anna Nikitichna Sarkizova became Aivazovsky's wife in 1882 and was with him until the very end. Her beauty was immortalized by her husband in the painting “Portrait of the Artist’s Wife.”

Death

The great marine painter, who became a world celebrity at the age of 20, died at home in Feodosia at the age of 82, in 1900. The unfinished painting “Ship Explosion” remained on the easel.

Best paintings

  • "The Ninth Wave";
  • "Shipwreck";
  • "Night in Venice";
  • "Brig Mercury attacked by two Turkish ships";
  • “Moonlit night in Crimea. Gurzuf";
  • "Moonlit Night on Capri";
  • "Moonlit Night on the Bosphorus";
  • "Walking on the Waters";
  • "Chesme fight";
  • "Moonwalk"
  • "Bosphorus on a Moonlit Night";
  • "A.S. Pushkin on the Black Sea coast";
  • "Rainbow";
  • "Sunrise in the Harbor";
  • "Ship in the middle of a storm";
  • "Chaos. World creation;
  • "Calm";
  • "Venice Night";
  • « global flood».

If you ask a person far from art which of the great painters he can name, then his answer will certainly include the name of the magnificent Russian artist - marine painter Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky. Besides paintings sea ​​elements Aivazovsky left a great many works on other subjects. The artist traveled a lot different countries and always drew what impressed him.

Childhood

The artist's surname originally sounded like Ayvazyan, and the name recorded at baptism was Hovhannes. His parents, Armenians by origin, lived in Feodosia. It was in this city, in the family of the merchant Gevork (Konstantin) and his wife Repsime, on July 17, 1817 (the date of birth of Aivazovsky is indicated according to the old style) little son Hovhannes. The artist had three sisters and a brother, Sargis, who later adopted and received the name Gabriel.

The Aivazovsky family origins in Galicia, where the artist’s ancestors moved from Armenia. His grandfather Grigor and grandmother Ashkhen owned land in the area of ​​​​the city of Lvov. Unfortunately, more accurate information about the origin of the family has not been preserved. The artist’s father, after a quarrel with his brothers, ends up in Feodosia and changes his last name to Gaivazovsky.

The first years of Aivazovsky’s life were spent in Feodosia on the Black Sea coast; already in childhood he began to be interested in painting and music. A little boy painted his first pictures on the white walls of the houses of Feodosia with black coal. His abilities were noticed by the architect Yakov Koch, who began to teach the boy and helped him, after receiving an education at a district school, to enter the Simferopol gymnasium.

Studying in St. Petersburg

In the autumn of 1833, Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky arrived in St. Petersburg. He is accepted at public expense into the Imperial Academy of Arts. At first he studied with M. Vorobyov in the landscape class, and then was transferred to assistant to the marine painter F. Tanner, a Frenchman by birth. By this time, Aivazovsky had received a silver medal for the landscapes “View of the Seaside in the Vicinity of St. Petersburg” and “Study of Air over the Sea,” which were presented to the public at an academic exhibition.

Quarrel with teacher

In the biography of the marine painter Aivazovsky there was interesting case which happened between him and his teacher. Working as Tanner's assistant, Ivan Aivazovsky did not have the right to work independently. But the young artist, despite the agreement with the teacher, continued to paint his own landscapes, and at the 1836 exhibition at the Academy of Arts he exhibited five paintings. Critics were delighted with Aivazovsky's work, which cannot be said about Tanner, who was so offended by the success of his student and assistant that he complained to Emperor Nicholas the First himself. The young painter’s works were immediately removed from the exhibition.

Six months later, Aivazovsky was assigned to the class of Professor Sauerweid, a specialist in battle painting. After studying with the professor for several months, in 1837 the artist received a large gold medal for the painting “Calm” he painted. The result of Aivazovsky’s creativity and his successes at the Academy of Arts was the decision to release him from his studies two years earlier than expected, and to send him to the Crimea for this time independent work, since the Academy had already taught the young master everything it could.

Return to Crimea

Returning to Crimea in 1838, Aivazovsky tried to work hard and productively. Two years of Aivazovsky's life were devoted to working on seascapes and battle scenes. For this purpose, he takes part in military operations and observes the landing of military troops on the coast of Circassia. The painting “Detachment Landing in the Subashi Valley” painted by him was the result of these observations and had big success at the emperor's. Nicholas purchased the painting from the artist and used it to glorify the exploits of the fleet.

By the fall of 1839, Aivazovsky returned to St. Petersburg to receive a certificate. In addition, he receives rank and personal nobility. In the summer of 1840, together with his friend V. Sternberg, he went on a trip to Italy.

Practice in Italy

During the time spent in Italy, Aivazovsky managed to visit Rome, Florence, Venice, where he met Gogol. He visits the island of St. Lazarus, where his brother Gabriel lives in a monastery. The brothers have not seen each other for many years. Aivazovsky leaves his painting “Chaos” as a gift to the monks. The Creation of the World,” the plot of which is based on biblical events.

While working on the shores of Italy, Aivazovsky developed his own method of painting. The artist had a very well developed visual memory, he had a rich imagination, so he worked little in the open air and completed his paintings in the studio. Italian works created by Aivazovsky were a great success in society. English artist gave very much good feedback. The works were noted at the Paris Academy and awarded a gold medal.

Ninth wave

After working in Italy, Aivazovsky continues to tour Europe. He visits Switzerland, Holland, England, France, Portugal, Spain. The artist always keeps an album with him and sketches seascapes and nature along the coast. While traveling through the Bay of Biscay, the ship the artist was on is caught in a severe storm. The ship miraculously survived, but newspapers announced the death of the artist in the waters of the bay. Aivazovsky survived and continued to work. Eight years after this sea adventure, in 1850, the master painted the painting “The Ninth Wave,” in which he reflects his experiences and impressions of the storm that happened to him in the Bay of Biscay.

Unusual paintings by a marine painter

Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky spent a lot of time traveling around the world. In all countries, he made sketches and sketches of subjects that interested him. One of the most unusual works for a marine painter is a painting painted after visiting the opening of the Suez Canal. Aivazovsky’s work is called “The Great Pyramid of Giza.”

Another unusual painting for Aivazovsky was painted in 1837: the canvas is called “View of the Grand Cascade in Peterhof.”

While visiting Constantinople, the artist painted the painting “Oriental Scene”. On it, the master depicted a plot, the action of which takes place in a small coffee shop located in the Ortakoy mosque. The painting was created in 1845. Another painting, “Oriental Scene,” was also painted in Constantinople a year later.

In addition to landscapes, Aivazovsky painted excellent portraits. An example of this is the painting with a portrait of grandmother Ashkhen, painted in 1858.

Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky was a very successful painter. Rarely has an artist achieved such fame during his lifetime. The master had a large number of awards, he had the rank of admiral, and in 1864 he was awarded hereditary nobility.

Aivazovsky's life in Feodosia

In 1845, Aivazovsky submitted a petition to the main naval headquarters, where he worked as a painter, and to the Academy of Arts, where he was a professor, with a request to allow him to stay in Crimea to complete the work begun there. Having received permission, Aivazovsky begins to build a house in his beloved Feodosia. Despite constant trips around the world, Aivazovsky always told his friends that his home was in Feodosia.

The artist is very active in improving the city. He opens art school and an art gallery. The years of Aivazovsky’s life in his hometown have a very beneficial effect on the development of Feodosia. The city becomes a center of painting and culture in the south of the country. The artist opens a school of painters, training in which is aimed at developing the talents of landscape artists. In addition to the development of the Cimmerian school, Aivazovsky participates in the creation concert hall and libraries in Feodosia.

Not only an artist

Everyone knows that Aivazovsky was a marine painter, but few people know that the master of seascapes was an archaeologist and was a member of the Odessa Society of History and Antiquities. According to the project he created and with his funds, it was built Archaeological Museum Antiquities, located on Mount Mithridates. Unfortunately, the museum was destroyed during the war in 1941.

The artist helped organize the construction and development of the railway, which opened in 1892. Thanks to his efforts, the largest trading port on the Crimean coast, located in the master’s hometown, was built.

The story of the Subashinsky spring

Aivazovsky's family was quite rich. The artist owned the Subashinsky spring with crystal clean water. In 1886 hometown The master suffered from a lack of drinking water. Aivazovsky turned out to be very generous person: seeing the suffering of the residents of Feodosia due to the lack clean water, he allowed the use of his source. For these purposes, a water supply system was laid, since the distance from the city to the source was 25 miles. In the city, according to the artist’s design, a fountain was created; any resident could take from it as much water as he needed, and absolutely free. Nowadays, this fountain bears the artist’s name.

Master's Will

The years of Aivazovsky’s life were filled with creativity and improvement of his native Feodosia. One of the wonderful gifts to the city was an art gallery. The Aivazovsky Museum, opened in the artist’s house, is also famous, where paintings are exhibited that, according to Aivazovsky’s will, should not leave Feodosia.

At the end of his life, the artist created the painting “Sea Bay” - this is his last completed work. The day before his death, Aivazovsky begins work on the painting “The Explosion of a Turkish Ship,” but does not have time to complete it.

Aivazovsky was married twice, and two of his grandchildren became painters. Michael Latri was a representative of the Cimmerian school, a painter and ceramic artist. Alexey Ganzen, like his great grandfather, was a marine painter.

Landscape artist, marine painter. Aivazovsky is known throughout Europe. He organized 120 personal exhibitions, which brought him a lot of income; in terms of the number of exhibitions, Aivazovsky is an absolute record holder and a tireless worker.

Aivazovsky Ivan Konstantinovich comes from an Armenian family. In the 18th century, during the genocide unleashed by the Turks, they fled to Poland, leaving Western (Turkish) Armenia. The real name of the artist’s father was Gevorg Gaivazovsky, in the Polish manner he was called Aivazovsky. IN early XIX century, the Aivazovsky family moves from Galicia to Crimea. For some time, Konstantin Aivazovsky was engaged in trade, but after the plague broke out in Feodosia, the family was in poverty. The artist's father takes on the functions of the bazaar elder.

From historical sources the artist, in the book of births of the Armenian Feodosian church, is recorded as “Hovhannes, son of Georg Ayvazyan.” Later, the artist Russified his last name and signed his works with it, which has been happening since 1840.

The boy’s early drawings were noticed by the mayor A.I. Treasurers. He was an acquaintance of A.S. Pushkin, when the poet was in southern exile. Thanks to the efforts of Kaznacheev, Aivazovsky entered the Simferopol gymnasium in 1930, and the Academy of Arts in 1833.

Aivazovsky studied in a class at the Academy of Arts, under the guidance of the famous landscape artist M. Vorobyov. It is believed that the origins of Aivazovsky’s romanticism are shown in the painting by Karl Bryullov, shown at the Academy of Arts in 1834 - “The Last Day of Pompeii”. Bryullov turned his attention, upon returning from Italy in 1835, to the young artist. Bryullov accepts Aivazovsky into the “brotherhood” of Bryullov, Glinka and Kukolnik. Among Aivazovsky's famous acquaintances are Pushkin, Krylov, Zhukovsky. In general, Ivan Aivazovsky quickly got along with people, he had a golden character, witty, handsome, and lucky in life. He was lucky in life with friends, in art, and in his personal life.

Ivan Aivazovsky wrote the sea already at the Academy, his first awards are associated with it.

In 1838 he received the Great Gold Medal at the Academy and was sent to selfeducation to Crimea.

In 1839, at the suggestion of General N.N. Raevsky Aivazovsky participates in the landing operations of the Black Sea Fleet in the Caucasus. This is how the artist’s paintings of the battle genre appear.

In 1840, Aivazovsky was sent to Italy to improve his skills. In Italy, Aivazovsky becomes a famous, successful European artist. A. Ivanov writes about him: “No one here writes water so well.” Having seen the painting “The Bay of Naples on a Moonlit Night,” the Great Turner writes a poem, calling Aivazovsky a genius in it.

In 1843, the French Academy awarded Aivazovsky a gold medal. O. Vernet told him: “Your talent glorifies your fatherland.” In 1857, Aivazovsky became a Knight of the French Legion of Honor.

In 1844, having returned to Russia, he received the title of academician and was a member of the Main Naval Staff.

And yet the artist does not remain in St. Petersburg. In 1845, he bought a plot of land in Feodosia and began building a house with a workshop. So Aivazovsky returns to Feodosia.

At the same time, Aivazovsky passionately falls in love with the Englishwoman Julia Graves and marries her. Julia Grevs is the daughter of a St. Petersburg doctor, governess. In two weeks, Aivazovsky decided the whole matter. All this caused a stir in his circles, since it was believed that given his position, he could find himself a girl of higher origin. Julia gave birth to four daughters to Aivazovsky. The marriage was initially successful, the wife supported her husband in everything and participated in the excavations he organized near Feodosia in 1863. In archaeological excavations, Aivazovsky discovered many gold items from the 4th century BC. e. Now they are in the Hermitage in closed storage. Having lived with the artist for eleven years, his wife leaves for Odessa due to her boring life in the outback. She complained about Aivazovsky to the Tsar and did not allow him to communicate with his daughters.

In 1882, in her declining years, Anna Nikitichna Sarkizova, the young widow of a Feodosian businessman, appeared in the artist’s life. Aivazovsky marries her, with her he found his family happiness. Despite the fact that Anna was 40 years younger, she was able to become a faithful friend of Aivazovsky.

In Feodosia, Aivazovsky was considered the “father of the city.” Thanks to him, the port was built, Railway, a historical and archaeological museum was erected, and an art gallery was created. And most importantly, he solved the problem of supplying the city with drinking water. He presented the city with 50 thousand buckets of clean water that belonged to him per day from the Subash spring. He also opened a branch of the Academy of Arts in Feodosia.

With the advent realistic direction in painting, the romantic Aivazovsky is losing his position, they said that Aivazovsky is outdated. And yet at the same time he wrote new picture, which proves the opposite. An example of this is Aivazovsky’s masterpieces: “Rainbow” (1873), “Black Sea” (1881), “Among the Waves” (1898).

At the end of his life, Aivazovsky once said: “Happiness smiled on me.” His life was full, enormous work and unprecedented success accompanied the Russian artist. Died famous artist Aivazovsky at home, buried next to the ancient Armenian temple.

Famous works of Aivazovsky Ivan Konstantinovich

The painting Chesma Battle (1848) is a work of the genre of historical battle painting. The emergence of this was the appointment of Aivazovsky in 1844 as “painter of the Main Naval Staff”. Aivazovsky enthusiastically wrote about the victories of Russian sailors. "Chesme fight" is the most important episode Russian-Turkish war 1768-74 At the end of the 70s, a Russian squadron locked the Turkish fleet in Chesme Bay and practically destroyed it. The Russian fleet then lost 11 people, while the Turks lost 10 thousand. Count Orlov, who led the fleet, then wrote about the victory to Catherine II: “We attacked the enemy fleet, defeated, broke, burned, sent it to heaven, turned it into ashes: and we ourselves began to dominate the entire archipelago.” The painting depicts a Turkish ship at the moment of explosion so effectively, as if it were illumination; Turkish sailors are trying to escape on the wreckage of a ship (the academic origins of the artist’s painting are visible in this); Aivazovsky introduces the cold light of the moon as a contrast to the fiery glow; A boat from a kamikaze ship is approaching the flagship of the Russian fleet.

The painting “Rainbow” is considered a masterpiece; it was painted in 1873 and is located in the Tretyakov Gallery. Aivazovsky skillfully depicts a transparent, slightly luminous rainbow against a stormy background, by combining shades of different colors. People are being saved right there in the boat, foreground the painting is lighter. One of the survivors points his hand at the rainbow. A ship colliding with reefs plunges into the depths of the sea. Sea waves are masterfully depicted, with the wind tearing off the foam and water splashes.

Black Sea (1881). The sun's rays, characteristic of Aivazovsky, breaking through thunderclouds. The timid silhouette of a ship against the backdrop of a sea filled with power. The horizon line makes the sea and sky one, lightning flashes in the foreground when the sea appears calm in the distance. The rhythm of the picture is set by the crests of the nearest waves, strongly lightened, stretching into the distance in parallel rows.

No less famous work is Aivazovsky’s painting “Among the Waves” - written in 1898. This painting, like many other paintings by the artist, is in the National Art Gallery. I.K. Aivazovsky in Feodosia. The painting is painted in shades of gray and bluish-green, in the characteristic manner of the late Aivazovsky. A ray of sun breaking through the clouds, a clearing on the waves - foreshadow the imminent calm of the bad weather. This picture was painted in the eighty-second year of the artist’s life, who, however, did not lose the steadiness of his hand.

Aivazovsky's masterpiece I.K. – painting “The Ninth Wave”

The painting “The Ninth Wave” was painted by Aivazovsky in 1850, kept in the State Russian Museum St. Petersburg. The painting gained popularity immediately after its first showing at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. The popularity of this painting is compared with the popularity of Bryullov’s work “The Last Day of Pompeii.” Both of these paintings represent the flowering of romanticism in Russian painting. Aivazovsky is characterized by experiments with a “romantically” bright palette, light and color effects, and the transparency of the water is extraordinary. In the plot of the picture, the crest of the ninth wave rises menacingly above the people trying to escape on the wreckage of the ship. In ancient times, it was believed that the ninth wave was the strongest in the moving waves. The picture shows inevitable death, but the bright sun breaking through the curtain of clouds and spray promises peace of the elements. Academicism is present in the film. This is evident from the precisely constructed composition of the picture, rather a beautiful than a tragic scene. The color of the picture is bright, reflecting all the intensity of emotions. plot. The artist completed the painting in 11 days. Aivazovsky was distinguished by his fast writing; he did not write from life, but followed the dreams of his imagination. Only in last years I tried to follow a realistic direction.

  • Chesme fight

. "July 17, 1817 priest Armenian Church city ​​of Feodosia recorded that “Hovhannes, son of Gevorg Ayvazyan” was born to Konstantin (Gevorg) Gaivazovsky and his wife Repsime. A native of southern Poland - Galicia - Gevorg Ayvazyan wrote his first and last name in the Polish way - Konstantin Gaivazovsky"

  • Shahen Khachatryan(director National Gallery Armenia and the Martiros Saryan Museum). Poet of the Sea. “Aivazovsky’s ancestors moved from Western (Turkish) Armenia to southern Poland in the 18th century. At the beginning of the 19th century, merchant Konstantin (Gevorg) Gaivazovsky moved from there to Feodosia.”
  • Vagner L. A., Grigorovich N. S. Aivazovsky. - “Art”, 1970. - Page. 90. “Their distant ancestors also once lived in Armenia, but, like other refugees, they were forced to move to Poland. The surname of their ancestors was Ayvazyan, but among the Poles it gradually acquired a Polish sound.”
  • Karatygin P. Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky and his 17-year artistic activity. - “Russian Antiquity”, 1878, vol. 21, no. 4
  • Semevsky, Mikhail Ivanovich / Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky: His half-century anniversary artistic activity. 26 Sep. 1837-1887. artistic activity. 26 Sep. 1837-1887 / St. Petersburg, type. V. S. Balasheva, qualification. 1887. Page 18
  • Barsamov N. S. Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky. 1962. "Art". page 92. " There is also the following information about the origin of Aivazovsky’s father: “... in the middle of the last century, the Aivazovsky family appeared in Galicia, where the closest relatives of our famous artist They still live there, owning land there. Ivan Konstantinovich's father, Konstantin Georgievich, professed the Armenian-Gregorian religion. In his time, he was a very developed person, knew several languages ​​thoroughly and was distinguished by a lively mind, energetic character and thirst for activity...” Literary information information about Aivazovsky’s ancestors is very scarce and, moreover, contradictory. No documents have been preserved that could clarify the Aivazovsky family tree. »
  • Gabriel Ayvazyan (brother of Ivan Aivazovsky). TsGIA Arm. SSR, f.57, op.1, d.320, l.42. (Quoted from Aivazovsky: documents and materials / compiled by M. Sargsyan). “Kaitan Aivaz spent his childhood in Moldova, then in Russia. But since Kaitan moved to Russia and adopted the name Konstantin Gregorian (son of Grigor), he also considered it necessary to change his surname Aivaz or Gayvaz to Aivazovsky.”
  • Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia. 1978. Pp. 94. “Ivan Konstantinovich is a Russian painter. Armenian by origin."
  • « Aivazovsky's father, due to family disagreements with his brothers, moved from Galicia in his youth and lived in Wallachia and Moldova, engaged in trade. He knew languages ​​perfectly: Turkish, Armenian, Hungarian, German, Jewish, Gypsy and almost all the dialects of the current Danube principalities...»Cit. by: Barsamov. Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. 1962. Art. page 8.
  • A. D. Bludova. Memories . M., 1888. pp. 23-25. " the custom of bringing with us, after campaigns, a Turkish child saved from death or captured Turkish women and giving them to their relatives for education or as servants brought a lot of admixture of southern blood between us, and to our benefit, and not to our detriment, judging by Zhukovsky, Aksakov , Aivazovsky, who are of Turkish origin on the female side, and according to Pushkin, who, as is known, was a descendant of a Negro on his mother’s side»
  • Memories of I.K. Aivazovsky / N.N. Kuzmin. St. Petersburg: typo-lit. V. V. Komarova, 1901

    I.K. Aivazovsky himself once recalled about his origin, in the circle of his family, the following interesting and, therefore, completely reliable legend. The story given here was originally written down in his own words and is kept in family archives artist. “I was born in the city of Feodosia in 1817, but the real homeland of my close ancestors, my father, was far from here, not in Russia. Who would have thought that war, this all-destroying scourge, contributed to the fact that my life was preserved and that I saw the light and was born precisely on the shore of my beloved Black Sea. And yet, in 1770, the Russian army, led by Rumyantsev, besieged the Bendery fortress, and the Russian soldiers, irritated by the stubborn resistance and the death of their comrades, scattered. the city and, heeding only the feeling of vengeance, did not spare either gender or age. “Among their victims was the secretary of the Bendery pasha. Mortally struck by one Russian grenadier, he was bleeding, clutching a baby in his hands, who was already preparing for the same fate. the bayonet was raised over the young Turk, when one Armenian held back the punishing hand with the cry: “Stop! This is my son! He is a Christian!” The noble lie served as a salvation, and this child was spared. The good Armenian did not end his good deed with this; he became the second father of a Muslim orphan, baptizing him under the name of Konstantin and giving him the surname Gaivazovsky, from the word Gayzov, which in Turkish means secretary. Having lived for a long time with his benefactor in Galicia, Konstantin Aivazovsky finally settled in Feodosia, where he married a young southern beauty, also an Armenian, and at first began successful trading operations.”

  • Aivazovsky Ivan Konstantinovich, part 1 (1817 - 1900)

    I.N. Kramskoy argued that Aivazovsky “is a star of the first magnitude, in any case, and not only here, but in the history of art in general.”
    P.M. Tretyakov, wanting to buy a painting for his gallery, wrote to the artist: “...Give me your magic water, such that it would fully convey your incomparable talent.”
    In painting, Aivazovsky was, first of all, a poet. The artist said about himself: “The plot of the painting is formed in my memory, like the plot of a poem by a poet, having made a sketch on a piece of paper, I begin to work and do not leave the canvas until I have expressed myself on it with my brush.”
    For my long life he wrote up to 6,000 works. The best of them have entered the treasury of world culture. His paintings are in many galleries around the world

    Portrait of the artist Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky
    1841
    Oil on canvas 72 x 54.2

    Moscow

    Ivan (Hovhannes) Konstantinovich Aivazovsky was born on July 17 (30), 1817 in Feodosia. Aivazovsky's ancestors moved from Western (Turkish) Armenia to southern Poland in the 18th century. At the beginning of the 19th century, merchant Konstantin (Gevorg) Gaivazovsky moved from Poland to Feodosia. After the plague epidemic hit Feodosia in 1812, life was not easy for the Gaivazovsky family. Konstantin Hripsime’s wife, a skilled embroiderer, helped support the family, which included two daughters and three sons.

    Aivazovsky received his primary education at an Armenian parish school, and then graduated from the Simferopol gymnasium, to which the city architect Koch helped place him. In 1833, with the assistance of the Feodosian mayor A. Kaznacheev, Aivazovsky went to St. Petersburg, and based on the children’s drawings presented, he was enrolled in the Academy of Arts in the landscape class of Professor M. N. Vorobyov. Then he studied in the battle class with A. Sauerweid and for a short time with the marine painter F. Tanner, invited from France.

    Already in 1835, for “Study of Air over the Sea” he was awarded a silver medal of the second dignity. In 1837, for three marine species and in particular for the painting “Calm” he was awarded the First Gold Medal and the academic course was shortened by two years with the condition that during this time he painted landscapes of a number of Crimean cities. As a result of the trip to Crimea, views of Yalta, Feodosia, Sevastopol, Kerch and the paintings “Moonlit Night in Gurzuf” (1839), “Storm”, “Sea Shore” (1840) appeared.


    Aivazovsky I.K. Moonlit night in Crimea. Gurzuf.
    1839
    Sumsky Art Museum


    "Coast"
    1840
    Canvas, oil. 42.8 x 61.5 cm
    State Tretyakov Gallery


    Windmill on the seashore"
    1837
    Oil on canvas 67 x 96

    Saint Petersburg


    Seashore at night
    1837
    47 x 66 cm
    Canvas, oil
    Romanticism, realism
    Russia
    Feodosia. Feodosia Art Gallery named after. I.K.


    Kerch
    1839

    In 1839, Aivazovsky took part as an artist in a naval campaign to the shores of the Caucasus. On board the ship he meets M.P. Lazarev, V.A. Kornilov, P.S. Nakhimov, V.N. Istomin, and gets the opportunity to study the designs of warships. Creates the first battle painting- “Landing at Subashi.”


    “Landing N.N. Raevsky at Subashi"
    1839
    Canvas, oil. 66 x 97 cm
    Samara Art Museum
    There he also met the Decembrists M. M. Naryshkin, A. I. Odoevsky, N. N. Lorer, demoted to the rank and file, who took part in the case under Subashi. The artist’s Crimean works were successfully exhibited at an exhibition at the Academy of Arts, and as an incentive, I.K. Aivazovsky was given a business trip to Italy.


    "Naval Battle of Navarino (October 2, 1827)"
    1846
    Oil on canvas 222 x 234

    Saint Petersburg


    "Naval Battle of Vyborg June 29, 1790"
    1846
    Canvas, oil. 222 x 335 cm
    Higher Naval Engineering School named after. F.E.Dzerzhinsky


    "Naval Battle of Reval (9 May 1790)"
    1846
    Oil on canvas 222 x 335
    Naval School named after. F. E. Dzerzhinsky
    Saint Petersburg
    Russia

    In 1840, Aivazovsky went to Italy. There he meets prominent figures Russian literature, art, science - Gogol, Alexander Ivanov, Botkin, Panaev. At the same time, in 1841, the artist changed his last name Gaivazovsky to Aivazovsky.


    Azure Grotto. Naples
    1841
    74 x 100 cm
    Canvas, oil
    Romanticism, realism
    Russia
    Donetsk. Donetsk Art Museum,


    View of the Venetian Lagoon
    1841 76x118

    The artist’s activity in Rome begins with studying and copying the works of past masters; he works a lot on full-scale sketches. In one of his letters, Aivazovsky said: “I, like a bee, collect honey from a flower garden.” Throughout his life, he returned to the landscapes of Italy; the harmonious coexistence of man and sea in this country was imprinted in his memory as an example of beauty. Aivazovsky created about fifty large paintings in Italy. The artist’s success was brought to him by his romantic seascapes “Storm”, “Chaos”, “Gulf of Naples” moonlit night” (1839) and others. His painting “Chaos” was acquired by the Vatican Museum. Pope Gregory XVI awarded the artist a gold medal. The artist’s talent is recognized by art connoisseurs and colleagues. A. Ivanov notes Aivazovsky’s abilities in depicting the sea, engraver F. Jordan claims that Aivazovsky is the pioneer of the genre of marine painting in Rome.


    "Chaos. World creation"
    1841
    Oil on canvas 106 x 75
    Museum of the Armenian Mekhitarist Congregation
    Venice. Island of St. Lazarus


    "Bay of Naples"
    1841
    Oil on canvas 73 x 108


    View of Constantinople in the evening light
    1846 120x189.5


    "View of Constantinople by moonlight"
    1846
    Oil on canvas 124 x 192
    State Russian Museum
    Saint Petersburg
    Russia



    1850
    Oil on canvas 121 x 190

    Feodosia


    "The Bay of Naples on a Moonlit Night"
    1892
    Oil on canvas 45 x 73
    Collection of A. Shahinyan
    NY

    In 1843, the artist began his journey with an exhibition of paintings throughout Europe. “Rome, Naples, Venice, Paris, London, Amsterdam awarded me the most flattering encouragements,” recalled Aivazovsky. One of them is the title of academician awarded by the Amsterdam Academy of Fine Arts. As the only representative of Russian art, he participated in international exhibition, organized at the Louvre. Ten years later, he was the first foreign artist to become a Knight of the Legion of Honor.


    "Shipwreck"
    1843
    Oil on canvas 116 x 189
    Feodosia Art Gallery named after. I.K. Aivazovsky
    Feodosia
    Russia

    In 1844, two years ahead of schedule, Aivazovsky returned to Russia. Upon returning to his homeland, the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts awarded him the title of academician. The Navy Department awarded him honorary title the artist of the Main Naval Staff with the right to wear an admiralty uniform and commissioned an “extensive and complex order” - to paint all Russian military ports on the Baltic Sea. During the winter months of 1844 - 1845. Aivazovsky fulfilled the government order and created a number of other beautiful marinas.


    "Russian squadron on the Sevastopol roadstead"
    1846
    Canvas, oil. 121 x 191 cm
    State Russian Museum

    In 1845, together with the expedition of F.P. Litke, Aivazovsky visited the coasts of Turkey and Asia Minor. During this voyage, he made a large number of pencil drawings, which served him for many years as material for creating paintings, which he always painted in the studio. Returning from the expedition, Aivazovsky leaves for Feodosia. “It's a feeling or a habit, it's second nature to me. “I willingly spend the winter in St. Petersburg,” the artist wrote, “but as soon as it blows in the spring, I am attacked by homesickness - I am drawn to the Crimea, to the Black Sea.”


    View of Feodosia
    1845
    70 x 96 cm
    Canvas, oil
    Romanticism, realism
    Russia
    Yerevan. State Art Gallery of Armenia


    Feodosia. Sunrise
    1852 60x90

    In Feodosia, the artist built a studio house on the seashore and finally settled here. In winter, he usually visited St. Petersburg and other Russian cities with his exhibitions, and sometimes traveled abroad. During his long life, Aivazovsky made a number of trips: he visited Italy, Paris and other European cities several times, worked in the Caucasus, sailed to the shores of Asia Minor, was in Egypt, and at the end of his life, in 1898, he traveled to America. During his sea voyages, he enriched his observations, and drawings accumulated in his folders. The artist spoke about his creative method: “A person who is not gifted with a memory that preserves the impressions of living nature can be an excellent copyist, a living photographic apparatus, but never a true artist. The movements of living elements are elusive to the brush: painting lightning, a gust of wind, a splash of a wave is unthinkable from life. The plot of the picture is formed in my memory, like the plot of a poem by a poet...”


    Meeting of fishermen on the shores of the Gulf of Naples 1842 58x85
    "Fishermen's Meeting"
    Canvas, oil. 58 x 85 cm
    State Tretyakov Gallery


    "Gondelier on the Sea at Night"
    1843
    Oil on canvas 73 x 112
    State Museum fine arts Republic of Tatarstan
    Kazan
    Russia


    "Venetian Lagoon. View of the island of San Giorgio"
    1844
    Wood, oil. 22.5 x 34.5 cm
    State Tretyakov Gallery


    Mill on the seashore 1851 50x57


    "Sunrise in Feodosia"
    1855
    Oil on canvas 82 x 117

    Yerevan


    "St. George's Monastery. Cape Fiolent"
    1846
    Oil on canvas 122.5 x 192.5
    Feodosia Art Gallery named after. I.K. Aivazovsky
    Feodosia



    View of Odessa on a moonlit night
    1846
    122 x 190 cm
    Canvas, oil
    Romanticism, realism
    Russia


    "View of Odessa from the sea"
    1865
    Oil on canvas 45 x 58
    State Art Gallery of Armenia
    Yerevan

    Aivazovsky's painting of the forties and fifties was marked by a strong influence romantic traditions K. P. Bryullov, which affected the artist’s painting skills. Like Bryullov, he strives to create grandiose colorful canvases. This was reflected very clearly in the battle painting “Chesme Battle”, written by him in 1848, dedicated to the outstanding sea ​​battle. The battle is depicted at night. In the depths of the bay, burning ships of the Turkish fleet are visible, one of them at the moment of the explosion. Covered in fire and smoke, the wreckage of the ship flies into the air, turning into a blazing fire. In the foreground, in a dark silhouette, stands the flagship of the Russian fleet, to which, saluting, a boat with the crew of Lieutenant Ilyin, who blew up his fire-ship among the Turkish flotilla, approaches. On the water you can make out the wreckage of Turkish ships with groups of sailors calling for help, and other details.


    "Battle of Chesme June 25-26, 1770"
    1848
    Oil on canvas 220 x 188
    Feodosia Art Gallery named after. I.K. Aivazovsky
    Feodosia


    Review of the Black Sea Fleet in 1849
    1886 131x249


    "Brig Mercury attacked by two Turkish ships"
    1892
    Canvas, oil


    “The brig Mercury, after defeating two Turkish ships, meets with the Russian squadron”
    1848
    Oil on canvas 123 x 190
    State Russian Museum
    Saint Petersburg



    "Storm at Sea at Night"
    1849
    Oil on canvas 89 x 106
    Palaces-museums and parks of Petrodvorets
    Peterhof, Leningrad region

    Aivazovsky's contribution to battle painting significant. He captured episodes of the Sevastopol defense, and repeatedly turned to the heroic exploits of the Russian navy: “Every victory of our troops on land or at sea,” the artist wrote, “makes me happy, as a Russian at heart, and gives me an idea of ​​how an artist can depict it on canvas...”.


    "Storm"
    1850
    Oil on canvas 82 x 117
    State Art Gallery of Armenia
    Yerevan

    Aivazovsky was the last and most a prominent representative romantic direction in Russian painting. Its the best romantic works the second half of the 40s - 50s are: “Storm on the Black Sea” (1845), “St. George’s Monastery” (1846), “Entrance to the Sevastopol Bay” (1851).


    Entrance to Sevastopol Bay 1852


    View of Constantinople by moonlight
    1846
    124 x 192 cm
    Canvas, oil
    Romanticism, realism
    Russia
    Saint Petersburg. State Russian Museum


    View of the Leander Tower in Constantinople
    1848
    Canvas, oil
    58 x 45.3
    Tretyakov Gallery

    The largest marine painter in Russian paintings of the 19th century century I.K. Aivazovsky traveled a lot and often included images of famous architectural structures in his seascapes. The Leandrova (Maiden) Tower depicted in the painting was built in the 12th century on a small rock at the entrance to the strait of Istanbul harbor and has long served as a lighthouse and mooring place for ships. It is still used as a lighthouse today. The tower rises against the background of a golden sky, the rays of the setting sun color the surface sea ​​water in pearlescent tones, and in the distance the silhouettes of the buildings of the ancient city appear. Soft sunlight romanticizes the landscape created by the artist.


    "Moonlight night"
    1849
    Oil on canvas 123 x 192
    State Russian Museum
    Saint Petersburg


    Sunset on the sea
    1856
    121.5x188


    “Night in Crimea. View of Ayudag"
    1859
    Oil on canvas 63 x 83
    Odessa Art Museum
    Odessa


    Storm
    1857
    100x49

    The fifties are associated with the Crimean War of 1853 - 1856. As soon as word of the Battle of Sinop reached Aivazovsky, he immediately went to Sevastopol and asked the participants in the battle about all the circumstances of the case. Soon, two paintings by Aivazovsky were exhibited in Sevastopol, depicting the Battle of Sinop at night and during the day. Admiral Nakhimov, highly appreciating Aivazovsky’s work, especially the night battle, said: “The picture was extremely well done.”

    “Sinop battle (day version)”
    1853
    Canvas, oil


    “Battle of Sinop November 18, 1853 (the night after the battle)”
    1853
    Canvas, oil. 220 x 331 cm
    Central Naval Museum


    Capture of the Turkish military transport Messina by the steamer "Russia" on the Black Sea on December 13, 1877


    The battle of the Vesta steamship with the Turkish battleship Fehti-Buland in the Black Sea on July 11, 1877

    In Aivazovsky’s work one can find paintings on a wide variety of topics, for example, images of the nature of Ukraine. He loved the boundless Ukrainian steppes and inspiredly depicted them in his works (“Chumatsky convoy” (1868), “Ukrainian landscape” (1868)), coming close to the landscape of the masters of Russian ideological realism. Aivazovsky’s proximity to Gogol, Shevchenko, and Sternberg played a role in this attachment to Ukraine.


    Chumaks on vacation
    1885


    Convoy in the steppe


    "Ukrainian landscape with Chumaks under the moon"
    1869
    Canvas, oil. 60 x 82 cm
    State Tretyakov Gallery


    Windmills in the Ukrainian Steppe at sunset
    1862 51x60


    "A Flock of Sheep in a Storm"
    1861
    Oil on canvas 76 x 125
    Collection of A. Shahinyan
    NY


    Neighborhoods of Yalta at night
    1866


    Neighborhoods of Yalta
    1863
    20.2x28


    Storm on the North Sea
    1865 269x195


    Sunset on the sea
    1866


    Moonlit night on the Bosphorus
    1894 49.7x75.8


    After the storm. Moon rise
    1894 41x58


    “View of the sea from the mountains at sunset”
    1864
    Oil on canvas 122 x 170
    State Russian Museum
    Saint Petersburg


    "Global flood"
    1864
    Oil on canvas 246.5 x 369
    State Russian Museum
    Saint Petersburg


    "The Death of Pompeii"
    1889
    Oil on canvas 128 x 218
    Rostov Regional Museum of Fine Arts
    Rostov
    to be continued...

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