Marine painter

Prominent cultural figures not only glorify the power of the human spirit and the creative power of genius, but their country of birth, too, or the national culture to which they belong. This was never more true than with Ivan Aivazovsky. The fate of the marine painter of international fame is set off in some specific sense by that of his elder brother, Gabriel Aivazovsky, an outstanding educator, teacher and pastor of the Armenian Church. The brothers were friends, they helped one another and always recognized the undertakings which brought success to each of them. Born into an Armenian family living in the town of Feodosia in Crimea, they later met in Venice in 1840 and agreed to spell and pronounce their last name, Gaivazovsky, in Russian as “Aivazovsky” and in Armenian as “Aivazian”. The contribution of both brothers to international, as well as Russian and Armenian culture is widely acknowledged.

A recently-discovered family album belonging to Yelena Gayevskaya, wife of Feodosia town governor Pavel Gayevsky, sheds fascinating light on society in the town, and the interaction of its notable figures, in the first half of the 19th century. Containing remarkable early portrait sketches by Ivan Aivazovsky of some of those concerned, it reveals the broad and various historical links that extended through the beau-monde of the time - including connections which lead to the great Russian poet, Alexander Pushkin. The album affords invaluable context on the close-knit world in which the future great painter moved in his youth.

Marking in advance the bicentenary of the birth of Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900), which will fall on July 29 2017, the Tretyakov Gallery presents a major exhibition of this great master, a truly timeless artist. “Whatever anyone may say, Aivazovsky is a star of the most splendid magnitude. A star not only in his homeland, but one which shines within the entire history of art. Aivazovsky’s legacy, in the three to four thousand canvases that he created, contains truly phenomenal paintings that will forever remain as such.” Thus wrote the artist Ivan Kramskoi, that most thorough and intelligent art critic, one who had a most precise understanding of the artistic process.