Wonderful Seascapes by Ivan Aivazovsky

Wonderful Seascapes by Ivan Aivazovsky. The Ninth Wave

The creative work of Ivan Aivazovsky is a remarkable phenomenon. He was a romantic who sharply felt the beauty of the sea, and was able to convey it in bright pictorial images. He had painted about 6000 pictures. He is the most outstanding artist of Armenian origin of the XIX century. His brother Gabriel Aivazovsky was an Armenian historian and archbishop of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (his real name was Hovhannes Ayvazyan) was born on July 17 (29), 1817 in Feodosia. Since childhood he had artistic and musical abilities; in particular, he independently learned to draw and play the violin. Theodosius architect Yakov Khristianovich Koch, who first drew attention to the artistic abilities of the boy, gave him the first lessons.

In 1837 he graduated from the Petersburg Academy of Arts with a gold medal of the first degree, which gave him the right to a free trip abroad. In 1840 Aivazovsky went abroad. His seascapes were exhibited in Rome, Paris, London, Amsterdam and were highly appreciated by both spectators and the press. Many works of the artist have gained worldwide fame. In 1843, Aivazovsky was awarded a gold medal in France, and received the title of academician in Holland.
In 1844 he returned to Russia as a recognized master and was awarded the title of academician.
In 1850, the artist created the famous painting The Ninth Wave, rightfully recognized as the most romantic of his work.
He was a painter of the Main Naval Staff. In bright pictorial images the artist managed to create a kind of chronicle of victories of the Russian navy.
Storms and shipwrecks, the struggle and victory of man over the sea, were a favorite theme of his creativity.

A rocky island. 1855

Until the last days of his life, Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky retained a fresh faith in art, a thirst for creativity. The artist died on April 19 (May 2), 1900. The works created by him brought him great glory during his lifetime and an unusually wide popularity in our days.
Aivazovsky entered history of Russian and world art as a talented seascape painter, who expressed the idea of the sea as an eternally beautiful free, unconquered element.