Storm Over the Black Sea #1
by Eric Glaser
Title
Storm Over the Black Sea #1
Artist
Eric Glaser
Medium
Painting - Oil On Canvas
Description
"Storm Over the Black Sea"
Artist: Ivan Aivazovsky (Russian-Armenian, 1817-1900)
Object Type: Painting
Title: Storm Over the Black Sea
Date: 1893
Style: Romanticism
Genre: Marine
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: Height: 53.5 cm (21 in); Width: 84.5 cm (33.2 in)
Collection: Private Collection
Object History: Sotheby's London, The Russian Sale, 19 May 2005, lot 8
Inscriptions: signed in Cyrillic and dated 1893 l.l.; further signed in Cyrillic on reverse
Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (Russian: ; 29 July 1817 – 2 May 1900) was a Russian Romantic painter who is considered one of the greatest masters of marine art. Baptized as Hovhannes Aivazian, he was born into an Armenian family in the Black Sea port of Feodosia in Crimea and was mostly based there. Following his education at the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg, Aivazovsky traveled to Europe and lived briefly in Italy in the early 1840s. He then returned to Russia and was appointed the main painter of the Russian Navy. Aivazovsky had close ties with the military and political elite of the Russian Empire and often attended military maneuvers. He was sponsored by the state and was well-regarded during his lifetime.
The saying "worthy of Aivazovsky's brush," popularized by Anton Chekhov, was used in Russia for describing something lovely. He remains highly popular in Russia. One of the most prominent Russian artists of his time, Aivazovsky was also popular outside Russia. He held numerous solo exhibitions in Europe and the United States. During his almost 60-year career, he created around 6,000 paintings, making him one of the most prolific artists of his time. The vast majority of his works are seascapes, but he often depicted battle scenes, Armenian themes, and portraiture. Most of Aivazovskys works are kept in Russian, Ukrainian and Armenian museums as well as private collections.
In 1899 Aivazovsky wrote to his biographer Nikolai Kuzmin: 'Even in deep old age I still have a strong passion within me and I work constantly' (quoted in G. Caffiero and I. Samarine, Light, Water and Sky. The paintings of Ivan Aivazovsky, London, 2012, p. 325). Indeed as Storm on the Black Sea demonstrates, the sea in all of its incarnations provided inspiration to this mighty artist from the earliest stage of his artistic career until the very last days of his life. He was endlessly captivated by its ever-changing essence, which he skilfully captured in the numerous seascapes that lie at the heart of his artistic oeuvre.
Immensely successful during his lifetime, by 1899 Aivazovsky had enjoyed the patronage of successive generations of Russian rulers, gained a powerful international recognition and was lauded by art critics as the greatest maritime artist of his time. Benefiting from his high social status and financial means, he founded an art school and an art gallery in his hometown, the Crimean port city of Feodosia, sponsored the construction of a railway in the region and significantly contributed to the overall improvement and development of the city. Alongside these philanthropic endeavours and despite his age, the artist spent his last years fiercely working on his estate in Feodosia.
Storm on the Black Sea is a powerful painting and one of the last examples demonstrating Aivazovsky's ability to convey to canvas the overwhelming and unruly power of the sea, his talent allowing him to breathe life into the roaring water. In this dramatic work, one can almost feel the boisterous gust of wind announcing the approaching storm. Translucently painted turquoise waves in the foreground give way to the advancing swell of the raging Black Sea. An atmosphere of impending foul weather is expressed via the dark blue and, in places, almost black colours of the stormy sky; flocks of shearwaters ominously swirl above the thickly painted perilous rocks that could serve as a much needed escape from the merciless waves or just as easily provide a danger of their own to rival that of the water. The vast expanse of churning ocean confronts the viewer with its infinite power and once again illustrates the helplessness of man against the power of nature.
Text Credit: Christie's
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Additional image editing by Eric Glaser
Uploaded
April 14th, 2020
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