Black Sea - Aivazovsky. 1881. Oil on canvas. 149x208 cm

Not every artist is given the skill of reproduction natural elements- air, fire, water. Ivan Konstantinovich was immeasurably endowed with the ability to depict the sea - perhaps none of his contemporaries could handle large-scale paintings on a marine theme better than him.

At first glance, the canvas impresses with its spectacular depiction of the violence of the elements. Looking at it, the reason why the Black Sea got its name immediately becomes clear. Peaceful and gentle, blue-green and calm in good weather, in a storm this sea turns into a roaring wild beast.

In its abyss, many ships found their end during the long era of shipping in this area of ​​the world. A hint of this is the tiny image of a ship on the horizon, barely visible behind the stormy waves of water. It is not clear to us whether the ship is in distress, or whether it is coping with the fierce elements, since it is very far from us, almost on the border of heaven and earth. But, knowing the harsh and unpredictable nature of the Black Sea, one can only sympathize with the sailors caught in a storm on it.

The famous painting shows the moment when the storm is just beginning. There is still a long way to go before the rising waves reach their critical height, but the water is already filled with a deep leaden tint, and the crests of the waves show the beginning of a storm. Even a person just looking at the canvas begins to literally physically feel this rolling, because the pattern of the waves is conveyed with skill bordering on magic.

The color scheme of the painting is dark, muted, quite saturated and rich, but without a single bright or “open” shade. The entire composition is built on halftones, which should make the waves shimmer with the living colors of water in a storm. The sky is painted like steel waves. It is completely covered with heavy, lead-filled clouds, threatening a prolonged downpour and a dangerous thunderstorm. Finding yourself in such weather in the middle of the open sea is deadly dangerous. And only in the distance, near the horizon, the artist painted a light stripe, above which white, safe clouds swirl. Perhaps it is there, beyond the horizon covered by clouds, that the coveted saving land is located, where a small ship, lost in the terrible, formidable waters of the Black Sea, is striving with all its might.

The overall impression of the canvas is the incredible, crushing power of the elements, which has so far lurked and has not played out in full force. But soon, soon a storm will break out...

Ivan Aivazovsky was born into the family of a bankrupt businessman, so his childhood was spent in poverty, but the boy’s talent was noticed and he was helped. He adopted some things from a local architect, then studied at the Simferopol gymnasium, where his successes in drawing impressed influential people who contributed to his admission to the Academy of Arts.

Ivan Konstantinovich did not immediately determine his own interests. His visit to St. Petersburg played a decisive role in his work. French artist F. Tanner, who mastered the techniques of depicting water. In 1836, Tanner accepted the young man as his assistant and taught him the techniques he knew. Already in the fall of the same year, Ivan Aivazovsky presented five seascapes for an academic exhibition. These paintings were rated very highly, and reviews appeared in newspapers. And in 1837, for two new works he was given a large gold medal and awarded the title of artist, these paintings were “The Great Raid in Kronstadt”, “Calm on the Gulf of Finland”. In the spring of 1838, Ivan Konstantinovich returned to Feodosia, where he set up a workshop for himself, in which he began to work, gaining experience in writing from life.

From 1840 to 1844 Aivazovsky stayed in Italy as a foreign pensioner from the Academy of Arts, and also visited Germany, France, Spain, and Holland. During these four years, the artist worked fruitfully and exhibited his works, which were everywhere big success. After returning from his travels, Aivazovsky received the title of academician of the Academy of Arts, and was also assigned to the Main Naval Staff. All this allowed Ivan Aivazovsky to go with the expedition of the famous Russian navigator and geographer F. P. Litka to Turkey, Greece, the following year. Asia Minor and gain new impressions, which he subsequently used in his paintings. Aivazovsky also repeatedly visited the Caucasus, Egypt, Nice, Florence, and even America.

In 1846, Aivazovsky built himself a new spacious workshop in Feodosia, where he mainly worked. Now he worked more, relying on his rare visual memory and techniques that he had learned a long time ago and had since perfected them, bringing them to automatism. The artist could write big picture in a couple of hours, which he did more than once, showing off his skill and talent to amazed spectators.

Aivazovsky’s legacy was a whole visual encyclopedia of the sea, which he captured in a variety of states. He left 6,000 paintings, which are of unequal value. Among them there are templates, of average quality, and excellent ones, such as the well-known “The Ninth Wave” (1850) or “The Black Sea” (1881). In addition, Aivazovsky wrote a lot of historical battle paintings, which tell about the victorious battles of the Russian fleet. The sea is what he painted with skill and love. Trying to write simple landscapes, Aivazovsky received more modest results, portraying a person, becoming helpless.

The Black Sea is the constant and most frequent subject of Ivan Aivazovsky’s images. A native of Feodosia, the great marine painter knew his native shores almost by heart, which is why the waters of the Black Sea are so diverse in his work. “The Black Sea” is a painting by Aivazovsky, which attracts with its simplicity and inner strength. It depicts nothing but the sea, and that is what makes it subtle and beautiful.

Marine painter Ivan Aivazovsky

The real name of the recognized master of the seascape is Hovhannes Ayvazyan, he comes from the family of an impoverished Armenian merchant. Due to his difficult financial situation, young Aivazovsky could not afford decent training in the art of drawing and painting until he attracted the attention of the chief architect of Feodosia with his natural talent.

After initial help from his benefactor, Aivazovsky was able to quickly achieve recognition and popularity. A large role in achieving the status of academician of arts was played by his unique manner of depicting water in general and seascapes in particular.

The painter's talent was not limited to images of the sea, as evidenced by his numerous portraits, rare genre compositions and subjects on religious themes. However, Aivazovsky’s only and unquenchable passion was the sea.

The Black Sea in the works of Aivazovsky

Despite the fact that “The Black Sea” (a painting by Aivazovsky, painted in 1881) is the only painting with that title, the great marine painter often depicted the waters of the Black Sea on his canvases. The artist was born in Feodosia and lived there most of his life. Aivazovsky believed that it was impossible to draw water from life, since it is the most fickle and changeable of the elements. However, the shores and waves of his native Black Sea were so familiar to him that he could depict their various states from memory.

Among the huge artistic heritage author greatest number The paintings are dedicated to the Black Sea, which was the artist’s constant theme. Aivazovsky depicted the Black Sea in all its guises - in calm and storm, day and night, in the rays of the morning sun or in the fire of sunset. The work of the great marine painter leaves no doubt about his love and affection for his native shores.

Description of Aivazovsky’s painting “Black Sea”

Despite the frequent depiction of native shores, in creative heritage There is only one painting by Aivazovsky, which is simply called “The Black Sea”. This canvas was created by the artist in 1881 and offers viewers a view of the endless sea expanse, frozen on the canvas just before the storm begins. The second title of the painting is “A storm begins to break out on the Black Sea.”

“The Black Sea” is a painting by Aivazovsky, characterized by simplicity of plot and practically perfect proportions compositions. The canvas depicts a darkened sea with frequent, restless, but not yet high waves, decorated with small foamy crests. Such waves, penetrated by rays of light and as if glowing from within, were called “Aivazovsky’s waves” by the artist’s contemporaries.

The horizon line divides the picture almost perfectly into two equal parts - a stormy sea below, a darkened sky above, and between them a thin strip of land and a lonely sail rushing towards it are barely visible through a curtain of fog.

Analysis of the picture

“The Black Sea” is a painting by Aivazovsky, which attracts the eye with its relaxed harmony and unusually realistic color palette. In addition to the fact that the picture is compositionally divided in half into sea and sky, the elements of these two parts seem to be reflected in each other.

The dark clouds on the right merge and form an equilateral wedge with the dark waves of the stormy sea. The play of light and shadow in the painting creates a lively composition, the dynamism of which is emphasized by the horizon line tilting slightly to the left.

The symmetry of the forms in the picture is the opposite of the asymmetry in the application of colors: while the sky is replete with a rich palette of shades, including lilac, blue, azure, gray and ivory, the sea spread out under the sky cannot boast of such chromatic diversity. The sea in Aivazovsky’s painting “The Black Sea” is painted in bluish-green, muted tones. The painting “Black Sea” (Aivazovsky masterfully depicted the state water element) should captivate not with the abundance of details and riot of colors, but with realism, natural beauty and the power of the raging sea.

The Black Sea in other paintings by Aivazovsky

The Black Sea was eternal theme Aivazovsky and never left the canvases on which the great marine painter worked for long. The artist’s works glorify the beauty, variability and natural power of the water element, so it is not surprising that the Black Sea, close to Aivazovsky, is shown in his paintings in all its diversity and inconstancy.

The calm and serene Black Sea can be seen in the paintings “Entrance to Sevastopol Bay” and “Gurzuf”, and its waters, penetrated by the rays of the setting sun, are depicted in the paintings “View of the Sea from the Crimean Mountains” and “Sunset on the Crimean Shores”. The description of Aivazovsky’s painting “Storm on the Black Sea” is complicated by the fact that in the marine painter’s heritage there are three paintings with the same name.

Aivazovsky depicted the Black Sea in the first rays rising sun(“Sunrise in Feodosia”) and in a stormy wind (“View of Odessa from the sea”). In the artist’s paintings, they are engulfed in fog (“Foggy Morning”) or illuminated by the bright moon (“Feodosia. Moonlight night"). Each image of the Black Sea indicates that the marine painter Ivan Aivazovsky carefully kept it in his memory all his life and even in Italy he did not stop painting views of his native shores.

Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (Hovhannes Ayvazyan) was born in Feodosia on July 29, 1817. His father, Konstantin Grigorievich Aivazovsky, an Armenian by nationality, married a fellow Armenian named Hripsime. Ivan (or Hovhannes - this was the name he was given at birth) had three sisters and a brother Gabriel (at birth - Sargis), who later became an Armenian historian and priest. Konstantin Aivazovsky was a merchant, initially quite successful, but in 1812 he went bankrupt due to the plague epidemic.

Even as a child, Ivan Aivazovsky showed extraordinary artistic and musical abilities- for example, he mastered playing the violin without outside help. Yakov Christianovich Koch, an architect from Feodosia, was the first to notice artistic talents young Ivan, and taught him elementary lessons skill. He supplied Aivazovsky with pencils, paper, paints, and also attracted the attention of A.I. Kaznacheev, the mayor of Feodosia, to the boy’s talents.

Aivazovsky graduated from the Feodosia district school, then was admitted to the Simferopol gymnasium with the assistance of the mayor, who by that time had already become an admirer of the young man’s talent. Following this, he was enrolled in the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (education in which was carried out at the expense of the state), thanks to the recommendation German painter Johann Ludwig Gross - the first drawing teacher of the young Aivazovsky. Sixteen-year-old Ivan Aivazovsky arrived in St. Petersburg in 1833.

In 1835, Aivazovsky’s landscapes “View of the Seaside in the Vicinity of St. Petersburg” and “Study of Air over the Sea” were awarded a silver medal, and the artist was appointed assistant to the fashionable French landscape painter Philippe Tanner. The latter forbade Aivazovsky to write on his own, but young artist continued to paint landscapes, and in the fall of 1836, five of his paintings were presented at an exhibition at the Academy of Arts, all of which received favorable reviews from critics.

But Philip Tanner filed a complaint against Aivazovsky to the Tsar, and on the instructions of Nicholas I, all the artist’s works were removed from the exhibition. Aivazovsky was pardoned six months later. He was transferred to the military class sea ​​painting under the guidance of Professor Alexander Ivanovich Sauerweid. After several months of studying with Sauerweid, Aivazovsky experienced unprecedented success - in the fall of 1837 he was awarded the Great Gold Medal for the painting “Calm”, thereby earning the right to travel to the Crimea and Europe.

The period of creativity from 1838 to 1844.

In the spring of 1838, the artist went to Crimea, where he lived until the summer of 1839. The main topic His work included not only seascapes, but also battle scenes. At the suggestion of General Raevsky, Aivazovsky took part in military operations on the Circassian coast in the valley of the Shakhe River. There he made sketches for the future painting “Detachment Landing in the Subashi Valley,” which he painted later; then this painting was acquired by Nicholas I. By the fall of 1839, the painter returned to St. Petersburg, and on September 23 he was awarded a certificate of graduation from the Academy of Arts, first rank and personal nobility.

During this period of time, Aivazovsky became a member of the circle of artist Karl Bryullov and composer Mikhail Glinka. In the summer of 1840, the artist and his Academy friend Vasily Sternberg went to Italy. The final destination of their journey was Rome; along the way they stopped in Florence and Venice. In Venice, Aivazovsky made acquaintance with N.V. Gogol, and also visited the island of St. Lazarus, where he met his brother Gabriel. Based in southern Italy, in Sorrento, he worked in his own unique manner - spending only a short time outdoors, and in the workshop he recreated the landscape, improvising and leaving free rein to his imagination. The painting “Chaos” was purchased by Pope Gregory XVI, who awarded the painter a gold medal for this work. The “Italian” period of the artist’s work is considered very successful both from a commercial point of view and from a critical point of view - for example, the works of Ivan Konstantinovich earned high praise from the English painter William Turner. The Paris Academy of Arts awarded Aivazovsky's paintings with a gold medal.

In 1842, Aivazovsky visited Switzerland and Germany, then went to Holland, from there to England, and later visited Paris, Portugal and Spain. There were some incidents - in the Bay of Biscay the ship on which Ivan Konstantinovich was sailing was caught in a storm and almost sank, and information about the death of the artist appeared in the Parisian press. In the fall of 1844, Aivazovsky returned to his homeland after a four-year journey.

Further career, period from 1844 to 1895.

In 1844, Ivan Konstantinovich was awarded the title of painter of the Main Naval Staff, in 1847 - professor of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. He was an honorary member of five Academies of Arts in European cities - Paris, Rome, Florence, Stuttgart, Amsterdam.

The basis of creativity Aivazovsky was a maritime theme, he created a series of portraits of cities on the Crimean coast. Among marine painters, Aivazovsky has no equal - he captured the sea as a stormy element with menacing foaming waves, and at the same time he painted numerous landscapes of amazing beauty depicting sunrises and sunsets at sea. Although among Aivazovsky’s paintings there are also types of sushi (mainly mountain landscapes), as well as portraits - the sea is undoubtedly his native element.

He was one of the founders of the Cimmerian school landscape painting conveying beauty on the canvas Black Sea coast eastern Crimea.

His career can be called brilliant - he had the rank of rear admiral and was awarded many orders. Total Aivazovsky’s works exceed 6000.

Aivazovsky did not like metropolitan life; he was irresistibly drawn to the sea, and in 1845 he returned to hometown- Feodosia, where he lived until the end of his life. He received the title of the first honorary citizen of Feodosia.

He was not only an outstanding artist, but also a philanthropist - with the money he earned he founded an art school and an art gallery. Aivazovsky put a lot of effort into the improvement of Feodosia: he initiated the construction railway, which connected Feodosia and Dzhankoy in 1892; thanks to him, water supply appeared in the city. He was also interested in archeology, he was involved in the protection of Crimean monuments, and participated in archaeological excavations (some of the objects found were transferred to the Hermitage). At his own expense, Aivazovsky erected a new building for the Feodosia Historical and Archaeological Museum.

To the Palestinian Society, which was headed by I.I. Tchaikovsky, brother famous composer, Ivan Konstantinovich donated his work “Walking on the Waters”.

Completion of career and last days of the painter

Aivazovsky died on May 2, 1900 in Feodosia, having reached old age (he lived for 82 years).

Before last day Aivazovsky wrote - one of his last paintings is called “The Bay of the Sea”, and the painting “The Explosion of a Turkish Ship” remained unfinished due to sudden death artist. The unfinished painting remained on the easel in the painter’s studio.

Ivan Konstantinovich buried in Feodosia, in the fence of a medieval Armenian temple. Three years later, the painter’s widow installed a marble tombstone on his grave - a sarcophagus made of white marble by the Italian sculptor L. Biogioli.

In 1930, a monument to Aivazovsky was erected in Feodosia in front of the eponymous art gallery. The painter is represented sitting on a pedestal and peering into the sea, in his hands - a palette and a brush.

Family

Aivazovsky was married twice. He first married in 1848 to an Englishwoman Julia Grevs, daughter of a St. Petersburg doctor. In this marriage, which lasted 12 years, four daughters were born. At the beginning family life was prosperous, then a crack appeared in the relationship between the spouses - Yulia Yakovlevna wanted to live in the capital, and Ivan Konstantinovich preferred his native Feodosia. The final divorce took place in 1877, and in 1882 Aivazovsky remarried - Anna Nikitichna Sarkisova, a young merchant widow, became his wife. Despite the fact that her husband was almost 40 years older than Anna Sarkisova, Aivazovsky’s second marriage was successful.

An interesting fact is that many of the great painter’s grandchildren followed in his footsteps and became artists.