The famous Russian writer Maxim Gorky has always surprised and delighted me with the philosophical depth and accuracy of his statements. Gorky once remarked: “An artist is the sensitivity of his country, his class, his ear, eye and heart; he is the voice of his era.” These words very well characterize the life and work of our Crimean artist I.K. Aivazovsky, a famous marine painter, collector and philanthropist. I always look at his paintings with excitement and feel a feeling of sincere admiration for the artist’s talent and his deep patriotism. The works of the Crimean marine painter are imbued with a reverent love for our country, its rich history, and unique nature.
One of my favorite paintings is “The Battle of Chesme”, painted in 1848. It is quite large: the size of the canvas is 195 by 185 cm. When visiting the Feodosia Art Gallery, I stand for a long time in front of this particular painting. The battle painting is dedicated to one of the important episodes Russian-Turkish war 1768-1774 During the night from June 25 to June 26, 1770, ships Russian fleet were able to destroy most of the Turkish fleet.
I.K. Aivazovsky convincingly showed on canvas the undeniable victory of the Russian squadron. The picture is permeated with dynamics and, despite the tragic content, pride in the Russian fleet.
“Chesme Battle” attracts the attention of spectators with a combination of red, yellow and black tones. The contrasting fabric will not leave anyone indifferent. In the center is the silhouette of the flagship of the Russian flotilla. Burning Turkish ships are depicted in the depths of the bay. The flame is so bright that for several minutes it is impossible to take your eyes off this part of the picture. It seems that you not only see, but also hear the screams of people, volleys of cannons, the crackling of burning and flying fragments of masts, parts of ships that turn into a huge fire over the water. The flame burns so brightly that the faces of the Turkish sailors are visible, miraculously surviving and trying to escape. They cling to the rubble and cry out for help. But there is no salvation for either ships or people. Everyone is doomed...
The bright flame on the sea turns into blue smoke and mixes with the clouds, from behind which the frozen moon watches the battle indifferently. It seems that water, fire, and air are mixed together. A terrible, unprecedented fireworks display that brings death and destruction in Chesme Bay, which symbolizes the victory of the Russian flotilla.
The sea in this canvas by Aivazovsky is alive and jubilant. It is not just a backdrop for the unfolding battle between Russian ships and the Turkish fleet, it is a witness and participant in what is happening in Chesme Bay. The sea is multifaceted and colorful. In the foreground of the picture there is dark green, further away there is lead, in the background there is red and yellow. It seems to be worried and eagerly awaiting the outcome of the battle. The transitions from one color to another are made by the artist so masterfully that the sea appears to have many faces.
Why do I love this picture? First of all, because it is permeated with pride, joyful excitement, and the rapture of the brilliant victory won by the Russian sailors. You understand all this when you stand in front of the canvas in the hall and admire the amazing technique of execution, inherent only to the great marine painter I.K. Aivazovsky, a true patriot and citizen of our great Motherland.
I am sure that the painting “The Battle of Chesme” is rightly called one of the best paintings glorifying glorious pages in the history of the Russian fleet. And I.K. Aivazovsky, who created it, can safely be called “a sensitive person of his country,” subtly feeling the importance of what is happening and skillfully reflecting on his canvases the paints and brush of the great master.
I.K. Aivazovsky is a famous Russian painter. They talked and talk about him as a unique master of the seascape. Absolutely all of his paintings are imbued with a unique emotionality.
In the painting “The Ninth Wave” the master depicted people struggling with the elements. This painting has been recognized as a world masterpiece, and it is also the most best work painter. IN popular belief, in ancient times it was believed that the sea surf has a certain rhythmic sequence, in which one wave, after a certain amount of time
It can be more powerful than others. IN ancient Greece such a wave was the third, in Rome - the tenth, in Russia - the ninth.
The master found the necessary means to depict power, grandeur and beauty sea elements. The image is filled with deep inner sound. It surprises with its scale and tragedy. If you look closely at the very center of the canvas, you might think that you are in the center of everything that happens on it. The greatness of the raging elements of the sea is immense. Her strength is indestructible and great.
The rebellious element of unabated power can sweep away everything that comes its way. She seems to want to prove that for her there is no
Barriers, nothing can stop her. Revives the picture and gives it a touch of romance, rising sun. The fiery glow that engulfs the sky and casts a glare on the deadly waves creates a feeling of grandeur.
Several people were caught in the very center of the inexorable elements. They are trying to win an unequal, deadly battle with the elements of the sea, settling down on the wreckage of a ship in disaster. They still have hope for salvation and are waiting for help, which is nowhere to be seen. Facing death, these people do not give up and try not to despair. Aivazovsky makes the audience guess who will be stronger in the end, courageous people or a formidable element.
Popular thought and fiction, always associate the sea element with the desire for freedom, with assertive confrontation. I really liked this picture. The painter loved the sea very much. This is confirmed by his paintings: “The Black Sea”, “The Battle of Chesme” and others. The Ninth Wave represents Aivazovsky's most majestic and impressive work.
For many, Aivazovsky’s sea paintings are an indispensable part of the mosaic picture of the world that everyone has collected for themselves since childhood. Like a dream of a holiday and travel to distant lands and like a scary fairy tale - creepy, but impossible to tear yourself away. Or like a romance - maybe naive and slightly cloying, but still exciting and subduing.
Already during his lifetime, the fame of the famous artist Ivan Aivazovsky rapidly and widely surrounded him with real world fame. Since 1846, one hundred and twenty (!) of his personal exhibitions have been held abroad and in Russia. Aivazovsky Ivan Konstantinovich was an honorary member of European art academies: Rome, Amsterdam, Paris, Florence and others. The Florence Academy invited him to paint a self-portrait (previously, only Kiprensky had received such an honor among Russian artists). The Pope expressed a desire to purchase his painting "" for the Vatican,
and the famous artist from England William Turner, admiring the work of Aivazovsky, dedicated to the canvas “ moonlit night» poems in Italian.
The list of successes can be continued indefinitely, because, according to one of Aivazovsky’s biographers, his life was “one of the happiest human lives,” “a real a fairy tale, eventful and beautiful, like a wonderful, captivating dream.” Indeed, the fate of the artist, who was born in 1817 in seaside Feodosia, was extremely successful, although it began in a rather peculiar way. His childhood drawings on the fences of the historical port city of Feodosia attracted the attention and interest of the Tauride governor A.I. Kaznacheev, who helped to enroll Aivazovsky to the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, where very soon Nicholas I himself became his admirer and patron.
Nevertheless, the artist bore little resemblance to a fairy-tale magician with a magic wand. One of the most important components of Aivazovsky’s success was exceptional performance and productivity. Over the course of his entire life, Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky created approximately six thousand paintings. Anticipating the practice of modern masters from “high fashion houses”, artist Aivazovsky acted as a large company that has an exclusive for the rich, mass production, and also something for those who want to have a piece famous name, but do not have a lot of money for this. In addition to his large and medium-sized canvases, there was also a so-called “gift” version, which was a photographic card of the maestro at his easel, where instead of a picture, a canvas the size of postage stamp, but with the same initial "A" in the corner.
This huge amount paintings could be painted if only if you had the skills of quick writing techniques. This speed was legendary. It is known, for example, that the huge canvas “ moment of creation" (1864), a variant of the repetition of "", was written in one day. Aivazovsky himself somewhat flaunted his capabilities and even occasionally showed his admirers creative process like a kind of magic trick: he began to paint a picture from a blank canvas and, in front of the astonished spectators’ eyes, he completely finished it in an hour or two. So, in the presence of General A.P. Ermolov was created within about two hours " View of the Caucasian rocks off the coast of the Black Sea».
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1883. Oil on canvas. |
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The speed of work was facilitated by Aivazovsky’s amazing memory. It is known that at the beginning creative path Ivan Aivazovsky tried to paint landscapes from life: it turned out to be long and boring, while views painted from memory turned out to be fresh and emotional. Therefore, the artist very quickly abandoned working on full-scale studies and sketches, making only cursory sketches in the album. Such a system required extreme concentration and concentration.
The need to write from memory came from Aivazovsky theoretical justification. Aivazovsky was often copied and forged. The antique market is flooded with fake Aivazovs. And although the plot external features The artist's manners are easily accessible to copyists, the secrets of his rather sophisticated technology remain hidden from them, and his confident skill is inaccessible. Aivazovsky's imitators are especially far from his professional accuracy in depicting ship equipment. Summer 1838 young Ivan Konstantinovich Ivan Konstantinovich took part in naval maneuvers off the coast of the former possession of the Dadians - Mingrelia. At that time he met the vice admiral of the Russian fleet, the hero Crimean War V. A. Kornilov, Russian naval commander and navigator Admiral M.P. Lazarev and an excellent sailor who considered serving in the navy the only meaning and purpose of his life - Admiral P.S. Nakhimov. They eagerly explained to the painter how the ships worked. His knowledge of how a ship heels in the wind, sinks or burns was precise, not approximate. Even the secret details of the designs of Russian warships of that time were familiar to him. Aivazovsky’s house in Feodosia had a rich collection of sailing ship models, and the artist experienced the death of the Russian fleet during the unsuccessful Crimean campaign as a personal grief.
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1858. Oil on canvas. |
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1871. Oil on canvas. |
As an extensive legacy, Aivazovsky gave to all humanity both portraits and genre painting, and flat landscapes, and compositions on biblical themes. However, his work remained highly specialized. “Land” Aivazovsky, as a rule, was much inferior to his seascapes. Aivazovsky’s main merit can be considered laying the foundation for the development of a motif that had not been given much attention to before. special attention Russian artists and thoroughly forgotten Western European masters, - the sea as a self-sufficient element, the sea as a theme. In the 19th century, artists mainly painted the sea off the coast. “Aivazovsky... works quickly, but well: he deals exclusively with marine views, and since there is no artist of this kind here (in Italy - A.S.), he was glorified and praised,” - this is how Alexander Ivanov explained the reason for the grandiose Aivazovsky's success.
The brilliant artist did not change the theme he found throughout his life, developing it with unflagging passion. For him, the sea acquired the meaning of a symbol, a comprehensive metaphor. It is the scene of both recent historical dramas and events of biblical history. As a metaphor for poetic inspiration (it’s not without reason that Pushkin, Dante, and Sapho appear in paintings against the backdrop of the sea), its sea is associated with quotes from school anthologies: from “The lonely sail is white...” to “Farewell, free elements...”, and Russian masterpieces. poetry seems to reinforce and support the landscapes of the marine painter. Sea Aivazovsky- this is also a metaphor human life, vicissitudes of fate (analogous to the medieval wheel of fortune). It is not for nothing that Kramskoy introduces the image of one of Aivazovsky’s best works - “” - into his painting “ Inconsolable grief" - as a sign of fate with its ups and downs.
As a true romantic, Ivan Konstantinovich needed a huge scale; he was attracted by nature itself with its sensations: floods, waterfalls, storms, wrecks. The artist forever retained in his soul the shock he received from “ Last day Pompeii" by Karl Bryullov. The secret of the impact of Aivazovsky’s paintings is in the direct emotional connection of the viewer. In his best works - «», «», «», « Among the waves"- the sea is surprisingly real.
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1850. Oil on canvas |
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I remember the horror of the first cinema viewers, who were frightened by the sight of a train rushing towards them, forcing them to duck their heads. The hearts of contemporaries also sank in front of Aivazovsky’s paintings: what if it hits you, what if you choke, what if you drown? General A.P. perfectly described the feelings of simple-minded spectators in his letter to the artist. Ermolov. From the words of this letter it is clear that Aivazovsky’s paintings lead the viewer’s feelings into a panicked fear of the elements of nature, from storms and waves, without finding salvation from death. But, at the same time, his other masterpieces force the amazed viewer to spend an unforgettable, fabulous and delightful night on the shore, enjoying the tranquility of the sea under the light of a fantastic moon.
Indeed, Aivazovsky loved to work in contrast: a menacing storm, a cold wind and the gentle peace of the hour before sunset or the silence of the night. He often made paired paintings of the same size with opposite moods, for example, from the collection of the Feodosia Art Gallery, which bears his name, “” and “”.
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When depicting the water element, Aivazovsky by no means limited himself to his beloved and familiar Black Sea from childhood. After Vereshchagin, he is the second tireless traveler in Russian art. The geography of his travels is very striking, which he reflects in his works on a landscape theme. Aivazovsky quickly responded to various outstanding events of his century: in 1869, he attended the opening ceremony of the Suez Canal (then a painting would be painted on this subject); The canvas “” is a response to the events that excited the Christian world related to the struggle of the population of the island of Crete with the Turks in 1866.
The artist’s social temperament is also striking. He was a true benefactor of his region: with his own funds he built an archaeological museum and a concert hall in his beloved seaside Feodosia, financed archaeological excavations, founded the Feodosia art gallery and library, and organized an art school called “ General workshop».
IN creative life The genius Aivazovsky has paradoxes. He was a Russian artist, although he was an Armenian by upbringing and a Turk by origin. All his life he painted “free elements”, he was considered the greatest master late romanticism- and was the most beloved a brilliant artist Nicholas I. He wore a uniform as a “painter of the Main Naval Staff”. He communicated with Bryullov and his “brothers,” but did not like to participate in their revelry and generally did not accept the bohemian lifestyle. The romanticism of Aivazovsky’s work coexisted without conflict with pragmatism and practicality in life. As a result, his personality became overgrown with real and imagined anecdotes with farcical elements. The case of the flock of sheep belonging to Aivazovsky is very indicative. Frightened by the storm, the sheep rushed into the sea from a cliff and died. Then Aivazovsky painted a picture based on this plot, successfully sold it and purchased a new herd with the proceeds. . Before his eyes, the political situation changed, aesthetic movements were born and died. But they didn’t seem to touch him. His sea is stormy and agitated, his sailboats are torn by the wind and broken into pieces by storms, but he himself is as unshakable as a rock. Incredibly popular during his lifetime, Aivazovsky evokes genuine delight among viewers even for modern viewers of our time; museums, auctions and private collectors are “hunting” for his works. On the international art market, Aivazovsky is one of the most valued and expensive Russian painters.
"The Ninth Wave"
Galina Churak
Curator of the exhibition and head of the department of painting of the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries
When we unpacked “The Ninth Wave” on the eve of the opening of the exhibition, everyone began to take pictures next to this painting. It seems that we all know both the work and the artist - whether we love him or not, this is still one of Aivazovsky’s hits. The viewer has always had a certain attitude towards him: there is a simple-minded viewer who likes everything. And there is a snobbish and critical viewer. It may seem that there was too much commerce in Aivazovsky, his work was focused on the public and on success - hence the long-established rejection of Aivazovsky.
Art developed in its own complex and often contradictory way, but Aivazovsky was, as it were, born a romantic and remained one throughout his life. He had an interest in the freedom of the elements, and with this is connected the romantic state that many of us experience in our youth.
I love Aivazovsky for his dedication to the subject and the enormous skill of the artist, which did not betray him until his old age. “The Wave,” for example, was painted at the age of 70, and he still stood in front of the huge canvas without fear, his hand and eye unerringly determining the correct stroke. The work forces us to come closer and closer, we are captivated by the pattern of the waves, the shape and depth of the abyss. In such works the dramas of humanity and the world are played out - almost reaching the point of cosmism.
Researchers of his writing always say that the artist’s techniques are clear; he does not use many colors, but he knows how to lay them out in layers with such skill that he creates a bottomlessness and variety of shades, light and color. His paintings carry a sense of the power of light flows - the illumination of the crest of a wave, the boiling and rush of water, and notice how, in the midst of all this, he can incredibly precisely set a counterpoint, a color stroke that collects a different energy.
"Black Sea"
Everyone knows the picture from Tretyakov Gallery“The Black Sea” at one time amazed Kramskoy with the fact that there is nothing in it except the sky and waves, but there is an ocean, immense and boundless, eternally moving, eternally swaying, like the breath of the world and a symbol of human destiny. It is no coincidence that in Kramskoy’s painting “Inconsolable Grief” a woman who has lost a child appears against the background of this very picture - as a symbol of fate and human destiny, a symbol of perseverance. Kramskoy said that among the 3000–4000 paintings by Aivazovsky, there are several dozen that are absolutely ideal in their execution.
“Inconsolable Grief”, Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy
I had different attitudes towards Aivazovsky, but now I understand that he is much richer than just a painter of the sea. In each painting, his skill is combined with deep feelings and serious thoughts - and all this creates that image of the world.
Aivazovsky is not the first Russian artist to turn to depicting the sea - but no one has painted it the way he began to depict it. Shchedrin, wonderful artist beginning of the century, he was older - and for Aivazovsky he became an idol. He also painted the sea, but more coastal scenes - he did not like the open sea, he considered the movement of the waves too sloppy. Aivazovsky’s main merit is that he put the image of the sea on a par with serious historical painting. Landscape has always been underestimated in our country, but Aivazovsky equalized it and brought it to the same level of significance as large historical canvases.
"View of Venice. San Giorgio"
If I could take any work home, I would choose “View of Venice. San Giorgio." Seascape written on a board, and the basis itself gives the artist the opportunity for absolute smooth painting. This painting is remarkable because it has absolute clarity, purity and peace: the location is so well chosen and the foreground is wonderfully related to the calm water, the expanse of the sky and the calm clouds. By the way, in addition to the sea, we will also show several portraits at the exhibition - this is uncharacteristic for Aivazovsky, he did not paint them very often. Among them there is an absolutely wonderful portrait of the traveler Platon Chikhachev, painted in Italy. Absolutely romantic image: dreamy pose, red cap on head, deck of a sailboat, sea and fading perspective.
We are not trying to rehabilitate Aivazovsky, but with this exhibition we want to show his diversity and depth. Yes, during his lifetime he was a commercial artist, he thought through where and how to organize exhibitions, but most of them were held for charitable purposes - he gave admission money to poor students and young artists, peasants who suffered from crop failure. He was a worthy man - and our first artist to receive the Order of the French Legion - twice. Having incredible fame in Europe, he lived all his life in Feodosia, where he was born. For the residents of this then small provincial town, he installed a water supply system, which supplied him with 50,000 buckets of water per day. He opened a library and built an archaeological museum. He donated money to Armenian schools and churches, and gave paintings to decorate Armenian churches.
Of course, a person cannot be perfect in every way. In the memories of him you can find such a funny moment: Aivazovsky loved it when he was awarded orders. He has such a large portrait that we couldn’t even get it: in it he depicts himself in a full admiral’s uniform with all the orders that he ever had.