A true trailblazer in the world of oil painting, Russian artist Ivan Aivazovsky produced almost magical results in his seascapes, so masterfully did he wielded his brush. Looking at his works, one can almost taste the salty ocean spray.
Over his lifetime, Aivazovsky amassed around 6,000 finished works, over half of which were maritime subjects. Blessed with an eye and a hand for portraying the movement and translucence of waves, the artist succeeded in capturing on canvas the roiling, foaming essence of the sea.
“American Shipping off the Rock of Gibraltar” (1873). (Public Domain)
(Top Left) “Among the Waves” (1898) (Public Domain); (Bottom Left) “Arrival of Catherine II in Feodosia” (1883) (Public Domain); (Right) “Ship in the Stormy Sea” (1887). (Public Domain)
Born in the Black Sea port of Feodosia in 1817, according to biographers Eugene Lee and Diana Dubina, Aivazovsky entered a prestigious art school in Saint Petersburg when he was just 16. While still a student, he gained his first taste of sailing participating in Baltic Fleet exercises in the Gulf of Finland. A little later, returning to his native Crimea, he then became acquainted with the great naval commanders of the Black Sea Fleet….