Ivan Aivazovsky

thumb|Aivazovsky's signature in Russian, 1850

thumb|Aivazovsky's signature in Armenian on oil painting from 1899

Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (; ) was a Russian Romantic painter who is considered one of the greatest masters of marine art. Baptized as Hovhannes Aivazian, he was born to Armenian parents 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 in the 21st century. He became known as Aivazovsky since , while in Italy. He signed an 1844 letter with an Italianized rendition of his name: "Giovani Aivazovsky".

His father, Konstantin, (–1840), was an Armenian merchant from the Polish region of Galicia. His family had migrated to Europe from Western Armenia in the 18th century. After numerous familial conflicts, Konstantin left Galicia for Moldavia, later moving to Bukovina, before settling in Feodosia in the early 1800s. He was initially known as Gevorg Aivazian (Haivazian or Haivazi), but he changed his last name to Gaivazovsky by adding the Slavic suffix "-sky". Aivazovsky's mother, Ripsime, was a Feodosia Armenian. The couple had five children—three daughters and two sons. Aivazovsky's elder brother, Gabriel, was a prominent historian and an Armenian Catholic archbishop.

thumb|upright=1|Aivazovsky in Italian costume, by [[Vasily Sternberg, 1842]]

Education

The young Aivazovsky received parochial education at Feodosia's St. Sargis Armenian Church. He was taught drawing by Jacob Koch, a local architect. Aivazovsky moved to Simferopol with Taurida Governor Alexander Kaznacheyev's family in 1830 and attended the city's Russian gymnasium. In 1833, Aivazovsky arrived in the Russian capital, Saint Petersburg, to study at the Imperial Academy of Arts in Maxim Vorobiev's landscape class. In 1835, he was awarded with a silver medal and appointed assistant to the French painter . In 1837, Aivazovsky joined the battle-painting class of Alexander Sauerweid and participated in Baltic Fleet exercises in the Gulf of Finland.

In 1870, Aivazovsky was made an Actual Civil Councilor, the fourth highest civil rank in Russia. The same year, Aivazovsky was invited to Constantinople by Sultan Abdülaziz who subsequently bestowed upon him the Turkish Order of Osmanieh.

After meeting Aivazovsky in person, Anton Chekhov wrote a letter to his wife on 22 July 1888 describing him as follows:

thumb|The house in Feodosia, where Aivazovsky lived between 1845 and 1892. It is now an [[Aivazovsky National Art Gallery|art gallery.]]

After traveling to Paris with his wife, in October 1892 he made a trip to the United States, visiting Niagara Falls in New York and Washington D.C. During this trip, he performed an act of diplomacy by donating to the Corcoran Museum two of his paintings, which he had painted in "Russia, Crimea, Feodosia", Relief Ship () and Food Distribution () which commemorated the arrival of American aid to Russia during the Tsar's famine of 1891-1892 but the Tsar barred these paintings in Russia because of their anti-monarchist unpatriotic themes. In 1896, at 79, Aivazovsky was promoted to the rank of full privy councillor.

Death

Aivazovsky died on 19 April (2 May in New Style) 1900 in Feodosia. A quote from Movses Khorenatsi's History of Armenia in Classical Armenian is engraved on his tombstone: (), which translates: "He was born a mortal, left an immortal legacy" The inscription beneath reads: "Professor Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky 1817–1900" ().

After his death, his wife Anna led a generally secluded life, living in several rooms she had retained after nationalization, until 1941.]]

During his 60-year career, Aivazovsky produced around 6,000 paintings The vast majority of Aivazovsky's works depict the sea. He rarely drew dry-landscapes and created only a handful of portraits. A primarily Romantic painter, Aivazovsky used some Realistic elements. Leek argued that Aivazovsky remained faithful to Romanticism throughout his life, "even though he oriented his work toward the Realist genre." His early works are influenced by his Academy of Arts teachers Maxim Vorobiev and Sylvester Shchedrin.

File:Gregory the Illuminator.jpg|The Baptism of the Armenian People

File:Aivazovsky - Oath befory Battle of Avarayr.jpg|Oath Before the Battle of Avarayr (1892)

File:Bayron's visit to San Lazzaro by Aivazovsky (1899).jpg|Lord Byron's Visit to San Lazzaro degli Armeni (1899)

File:Aivazovsky - Catholicos Khrimyan Airik near Echmiadzin.jpg|Mkrtich Khrimian near Echmiadzin

</gallery>

Aivazovsky and archaeology

thumb|The Museum of Antiquities founded by Aivazovsky in Feodosia

Aivazovsky took an interest in archaeology since the 1850s. He employed farmers to conduct archaeological excavations in the Feodosia area. In 1853 some 22 burial mounds were excavated on Mount Tepe-Oba, which mostly contained broken amphorae and bones, but also golden necklaces, earrings, a female head, a chain with a sphinx, a sphinx with woman's head, the head of an ox, slabs; silver bracelets; clay statuettes, medallions, various vessels, a sarcophagus; silver and bronze coins. The site has been dated to the 5th to 3rd centuries BC when there was an ancient Greek settlement of Theodosia. The best finds were sent by Aivazovsky to the Imperial Hermitage in Petersburg. In 1855, at age 13–14, Kuindzhi visited Feodosia to study with Aivazovsky, however, he was engaged merely to mix paints A 1903 encyclopedic article stated: "Although Kuindzhi cannot be called a student of Aivazovsky, the latter had without doubt some influence on him in the first period of his activity; from whom he borrowed much in the manner of painting." English art historian John E. Bowlt wrote that "the elemental sense of light and form associated with Aivazovsky's sunsets, storms, and surging oceans permanently influenced the young Kuindzhi."

Vartan Makhokhian, an Trabzon-born Armenian painter, who was later based in France, met Aivazovsky in Crimea in 1894. The latter had a major influence on his work. Aivazovsky also influenced Russian painter Lev Lagorio and his grandsons and . and gain recognition outside Russia. In 1898, Munsey's Magazine wrote that Aivazovsky is "better known to the world at large than any other artist of his nationality, with the exception of the sensational Verestchagin". However, Aivazovsky has not been incorporated into the mainstream Western history of art, and he remains relatively unknown in the West. and, overall, one of the finest masters of seascape.

Russia

In 1890 the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary described him as the "best Russian marine painter". He was praised by contemporary artists Ivan Kramskoi, In nineteenth-century Russia, his name became a synonym for art and beauty. The phrase "worthy of Aivazovsky's brush" was the standard way of describing something ineffably lovely. It was first used by Anton Chekhov in his 1897 play Uncle Vanya. Alternatively translated as "scene", "subject", or "picture".

A street in Moscow was named after Aivazovsky in 1978. His first Aivazovsky statue in Russia was erected in 2007 in Kronstadt, near Saint Petersburg. The Simferopol International Airport in Crimea, after Russian annexation, was voted to be named after Aivazovsky in 2018. It was officially renamed according to a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin on 31 May 2019, and ceremonially renamed on Russia Day (12 June). A bust of Aivazovsky was erected in front of the airport in 2020.

In a 2017 VTsIOM poll, Aivazovsky ranked first as the most favorite artist of Russians, with 27% of respondents naming him as their favorite, ahead of Ivan Shishkin (26%) and Ilya Repin (16%). Overall, 93% of respondents said they were familiar with his name (26% knew him well, 67% have heard his name) and 63% of those who know him said they liked his works, including 80% of those 60 or older and 35% of 18 to 24 year olds.

Armenia

thumb|upright=0.9|The statue of Aivazovsky in central [[Yerevan, Armenia, was erected in 2003.]]

In Armenia, Aivazovsky has been considered an Armenian painter, He has been described as the "most remarkable" Armenian painter of the 19th century and the first-ever Armenian marine painter. He signed some of his paintings and letters in Armenian.

He was born outside Armenia, and like his contemporary Armenian painters, Aivazovsky drew primary influences from European and Russian schools of art. According to Sureniants, he sought to create a union which would have brought together all Armenian artists around the world. It was translated into English in 1917 by Alice Stone Blackwell.

As early as 1876, a sea painting by Aivazovsky was hanging at the residence of the Catholicos at the monastery of Etchmiadzin, the center of the Armenian Church. The National Gallery of Armenia in Yerevan holds around 100 works of Aivazovsky, including 65 paintings.

A statue of Aivazovsky was inaugurated in central Yerevan in 2003 and a bust was erected in Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, in December 2021. Aivazovsky is depicted on the 20,000 Armenian dram banknotes issued in 2018. According to Hürriyet Daily News, 30 paintings of Aivazovsky are on display in Turkish museums as of 2014. According to , an organizer of an Aivazovsky exhibition in Istanbul, there are 60 Aivazovsky paintings in Turkey, including 41 in Turkish public institutions: 21 in former Ottoman palaces, 10 in various marine and military museums, 10 at the presidential residence, and 10 in private collections in Istanbul. In 2007, when Abdullah Gül became president of Turkey, he brought paintings by Aivazovsky up from the basement to hang in his office during redecoration of the presidential palace, the Çankaya Mansion in Ankara. Pictures of official meetings of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the new Presidential Complex in Ankara show that the walls of the rooms at the presidential residence are decorated with Aivazovsky's artwork.

Ukraine

In Ukraine, Aivazovsky is sometimes considered a Ukrainian painter. He painted numerous Ukrainian landscapes, including of the Dnieper, the Ukrainian steppe, Odesa. An alley in Kyiv (') was named after him in 1939 and a statue of Aivazovsky and his brother Gabriel was erected in Simferopol, Crimea in 1999.

Works by Aivazovsky, among others, are presumed to have been destroyed in an airstrike attack on the Kuindzhi Art Museum in Mariupol during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in March 2022. According to Ukrainian authorities, Russian forces looted a number of original works by Aivazovsky from Mariupol museums to Russian-controlled Donetsk. Paintings by Aivazovsky were also taken from Kherson before Russian forces were forced out of the city in late 2022. The painting The Storm Subsides from the 1870s was among works taken from the Kherson Art Museum to the in Russian-controlled Simferopol, Crimea.

Dispute over identity

thumb|An 1893 photograph of Aivazovsky with an inset oil painting.

In June 2017 Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko claimed that Aivazovsky is "part of Ukrainian heritage", which prompted Russian media to accuse him of cultural appropriation.

As part of derussification in Ukraine in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Aivazovsky streets were renamed in several Ukrainian cities, including Lviv and Rivne, while Sumy chose to keep his name.

In February 2023, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was reported to have classified Aivazovsky, along with Arkhip Kuindzhi and Ilya Repin, as Ukrainian artists. It was welcomed by Ukraine's Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko and the Kyiv Post, with both describing it as decolonization of Ukrainian art. It prompted wide criticism in Russia, both by the government and art specialists. Andrey Kovalchuk, chairman of the , called it "political insinuation and provocation." He said if Aivazovsky lived today, he would be declared a Kremlin agent and be cancelled in the West.

Tatyana Gaiduk, director of the Aivazovsky National Art Gallery in Feodosia, argued that Aivazovsky was an Armenian and the "bearer of Armenian and Russian culture. Armenian traditions reigned in the house, in everyday life, but for everyone Aivazovsky is a representative of the large Russian world. All over the world he became known as a Russian artist, one of those who glorified Russian art. He was very patriotic, in his paintings he sang all the outstanding victories of the Russian navy." In early March 2023, the Metropolitan Museum of Art changed Aivazovsky's label to "Armenian, born Russian Empire [now Ukraine]."

Legacy

thumb|upright|Aivazovsky's monument in front of his house ([[Aivazovsky National Art Gallery|now an art gallery) in Feodosia]]

thumb|Aivazovsky on a 20,000 Armenian dram banknote

Aivazovsky's house in Feodosia, where he had founded an art museum in 1880, is open to this day as the Aivazovsky National Art Gallery. It remains a central attraction in the city

Posthumous honors

The Soviet Union (1950), Romania (1971), Russia (first in 1995), Ukraine (1999), and other countries have issued postage stamps depicting Aivazovsky or his works. The minor planet 3787 Aivazovskij, named after Aivazovsky, was discovered by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Chernykh in 1977.

In 2016 and 2017 the 200th anniversary of Aivazovsky was celebrated with major exhibitions in Russia, Ukraine, and Armenia. An exhibition featuring 120 paintings and 55 etchings of Aivazovsky was held at the Tretyakov Gallery on Krymsky Val in Moscow from 29 July to 20 November 2016 dedicated to his 200th anniversary of birth. In the first 2 weeks, the exhibition had around 55,000 visitors, a record number. 38 of the works were moved from the Aivazovsky National Art Gallery in Feodosia, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, prompting Ukraine to call for an international boycott of the Tretyakov Gallery. Exhibitions were also held at the National Art Museum of Ukraine in Kiev, and the National Gallery of Armenia in Yerevan.

Auctions

Aivazovsky's paintings began appearing in auctions (mostly in London) in the early 2000s. Many of his works are being bought by Russian oligarchs. His works have risen steadily in auction value. In 2004, his Saint Isaac's Cathedral On A Frosty Day, a rare cityscape, sold for around £1 million ($2.1 million). In 2006 The Varangians on the Dnieper sold for $3.2 million at Sotheby's. In 2007 his painting American Shipping off the Rock of Gibraltar auctioned at £2.71 million, "more than four times its top estimate". In April 2012, his 1856 work View of Constantinople and the Bosphorus was sold at Sotheby's for a record $5.2 million (£3.2 million), a tenfold increase since it was last at an auction in 1995. In 2020 his 1878 painting The Bay of Naples sold for $2.8 million, a record for a painting at an online-only auction.

Stolen paintings

In January 2011 a number of paintings, including those of Aivazovsky, were stolen from the country house of Aleksandr Tarantsev, an owner of a chain of jewelry stores in Russia, outside Moscow. In 2017 it was reported that a fake of one of the paintings stolen from Tarantsev's house was presented to Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan by the Pyunik foundation.

In February 2011 an 1875 Aivazovsky painting A Storm on Rocky Shores was discovered at a Moscow auction after having been stolen from Armenia in 1990. It was returned to Armenia's National Gallery by the Armenian-born Russian Senator (Hovhannes Ohanyan), its last owner.

In June 2015 Sotheby's withdrew from auction an 1870 Aivazovsky painting Evening in Cairo, which was estimated at £1.5–2 million ($2–$3 million), after the Russian Interior Ministry claimed that it was stolen in 1997 from a private collection in Moscow. In 2017 View on Revel (1845), stolen from the in 1976, was found at Koller auction house in Zürich, Switzerland.

Awards

{| class="wikitable"

! scope="col" | Country

! colspan="2" scope="col" | Award

</references>

Bibliography

External links

Chronological List of paintings by Ivan Aivazovsky at Wikidata

Galleries of Aivazovsky's paintings

at the Russian State Museum
National Gallery of Armenia
Russian Art Encyclopedia
The Athenaeum
Old Istanbul paints at Organization of Istanbul Armenians
Ivan Aivazovsky in collection of the Odessa Art Museum. Album. Odessa, Astroprint, 2012.