Picture "Black Sea": Aivazovsky and his eternal story

The Black Sea is the constant and most frequent object of the image of Ivan Aivazovsky. A native of Feodosia, the great seascapeist almost knew by heart the native shores, so the waters of the Black Sea in his work are so diverse. "Black Sea" - a picture of Aivazovsky, which attracts simplicity and inner strength. It shows nothing but the sea, and this is what makes it delicate and beautiful.

Painter Marina Ivan Aivazovsky

The real name of the recognized master of the sea landscape is Hovhannes Ayvazyan, he comes from the family of an impoverished Armenian merchant. Due to the difficult financial situation, young Aivazovsky could not afford a worthy training in the art of drawing and painting, until he attracted the attention of the chief architect Theodosius with his natural talent.

After initial assistance from his benefactor, Aivazovsky managed to quickly gain recognition and popularity. A great role in achieving the status of an academician of the arts was played by his unique manner of portraying water in general and seascapes in particular.

The painter's talent was not limited to the images of the sea, as evidenced by his numerous portraits, rare genre compositions and subjects on religious themes. However, the only and unquenchable passion of Aivazovsky was the sea.

Black Sea in the work of Aivazovsky

Despite the fact that the "Black Sea" (Aivazovsky's painting, written in 1881) - the only canvas with this name, the great seascapes often depicted the waters of the Black Sea on their canvases. The artist was born in Feodosia and lived there most of his life. Aivazovsky believed that water can not be drawn from nature, since it is the most volatile and volatile of the elements. However, the shores and waves of his native Black Sea were so familiar to him that he could from memory depict their various states.

Among the author's great artistic heritage, the greatest number of paintings is devoted to the Black Sea, which was a constant theme of the artist. Aivazovsky portrayed the Black Sea in all its forms - in a calm and storm, day and night, in the rays of the morning sun or in the sunset fire. The work of the great seascape leaves no doubt about his love and affection for his native shores.

Description of the picture of Aivazovsky "Black Sea"

Despite the frequent depiction of native shores, there is only one picture in the creative heritage of Aivazovsky, which is simply called the "Black Sea". This canvas was created by the artist in 1881 and opens the view to the vast space of the sea, frozen on canvas before the very beginning of the storm. The second title of the painting is "A storm is starting to play out on the Black Sea".

"Black Sea" - a picture of Aivazovsky, characterized by the simplicity of the plot and the almost ideal proportions of the composition. The canvas depicts a darkened sea with frequent, restless, but not yet high waves, adorned with small foam ridges. Such waves, penetrated by the rays of light and as if glowing from the inside, the artist's contemporaries called "waves of Aivazovsky."

The horizon line divides the picture almost perfectly into two equal parts: a stormy sea from below, a darkened sky above, and between them barely glimpses through the veil of mist a thin strip of land and a lonely sail tending towards it.

Analysis of the picture

"Black Sea" is a painting by Aivazovsky, which attracts the views with unconstrained harmony and an unusually realistic color palette. In addition to the fact that the picture is compositionally divided in half by the sea and the sky, the elements of these two parts seem to be reflected in each other.

The dark clouds on the right merge and form an equilateral wedge with dark waves of the raging sea. The play of light and shadow in the picture creates a lively composition, the dynamism of which is emphasized by the horizon line slightly tilted to the left.

The symmetry of the forms in the painting is opposite to the asymmetry in the application of colors: while the sky is full of rich palette of shades, among which are purple, blue, azure, gray and ivory, the sea stretching under the sky can not boast such a chromatic variety. The sea in the painting by Aivazovsky "Black Sea" is made in blue-green, muted tones. The painting "Black Sea" (Aivazovsky masterfully depicted the state of the water element) should conquer not by the abundance of details and the riot of flowers, but by the realism, natural beauty and strength of the raging sea.

Black Sea on other canvases of Aivazovsky

The Black Sea was the eternal theme of Aivazovsky and never for a long time did not leave the canvas, over which the great seascapeist worked. The artist's works glorify the beauty, variability and natural strength of the water element, so it is not surprising that Aivazovsky's close Black Sea is shown in his paintings in all their diversity and impermanence.

Calm and serene Black Sea can be seen in the pictures "Entrance to the Sevastopol Bay" and "Gurzuf", and its waters, penetrated by the rays of the setting sun, are depicted on the canvases "View of the Sea from the Crimean Mountains" and "The Sunset at the Crimean Shores". Description of the picture Aivazovsky "Storm on the Black Sea" is complicated by the fact that in the heritage of the seascape there are three paintings with this name.

Aivazovsky portrayed the Black Sea in the first rays of the rising sun ("Sunrise in Feodosia") and in the stormy wind ("View of Odessa from the Sea"). In the artist's paintings, the sea waves are absorbed in fog ("Foggy morning") or are lit by a bright moon ("Theodosius, Moonlight Night"). Each image of the Black Sea suggests that the painter-painter Ivan Aivazovsky carefully kept it in his memory all his life and even in Italy he never stopped writing the kinds of native shores.