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  • Ivan Aivazovsky
    Jul 29, 1817 - May 02, 1900
  • The Bay of Naples 1878 - Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky was an Armenian-Russian Romantic painter who is considered one of the greatest masters of marine art. Baptized as Hovhannes Aivazian, he was born into an Armenian family in the Black Sea port of Feodosia in Crimea and was mostly based there.
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The Bay of Naples 1878
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  • The Bay of Naples 1878

  • Ivan Aivazovsky
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  • 1878
    Oil on canvas
    56 3/4 x 82 in.
    Private collection, Germany.

    By 1878, when Ivan Aivazovsky painted The Bay of Naples, he had not just found fame both in Russia and abroad; he had come to define the genre of seascape painting and redefine its place in Russian art.

    At over 2 metres wide the present lot is one of the largest paintings by Aivazovsky to appear on the open market and is instantly recognisable as a work by his hand. It combines many of the elements for which he is best known and which continue to resonate with the public today, more than a century after the artist’s death. These include the diffuse sunlight filling a hazy sky which here occupies two thirds of the canvas, and the reflection of light on the calm, only slightly rippling water.

    The sea in all its states, the depiction of its movement, and the play of light on water are the central motifs in Aivazovsky’s oeuvre. He was equally brilliant at depicting stormy seas in dramatic moonlight, often juxtaposing mankind with nature in true Romantic fashion, as at rendering the effects of sunlight on calm water.

    Even in his later work, dating from the period when France came under the sway of the Impressionists, Aivazovsky stayed true to his Romantic roots. Early on in his career he had abandoned painting from nature, and he wasn’t interested in capturing the passing effects of light. When working in his studio, he relied on his visual memory and his imagination, claiming that it was impossible to capture the elements with a brush. The role of the artist was to memorise and subsequently use them in his paintings: ‘The subject of a painting takes shape in my mind, just like the subject for a poem in that of a poet’s’ (Quoted in Bulgakov, 1901, p.26).

    This also explains why geographical details were secondary for Aivazovsky, and often not accurate; rather he drew on memories gathered over his long life and career. With the warm southern light and the distinctly Italian dress of the figures in the foreground, the present view has been traditionally identified as the coastline of Southern Italy, but the hills are equally reminiscent of the artist’s native Crimea.

    Why settle for a paper print when you can add sophistication to your rooms with a high quality 100% hand-painted oil painting on canvas at wholesale price? Order this beautiful oil painting today! that's a great way to impress friends, neighbors and clients alike.

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Other paintings by Ivan Aivazovsky:

The Niagara Waterfall
The Niagara Waterfall
Jesus Walks on Water 1863
Jesus Walks on Water 1863
Gathering Storm
Gathering Storm
Sea View 1895
Sea View 1895
Ivan AivazovskyIvan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (Hovannes Aivasian) was born on July 29, 1817, in Feodosia, Crimea, Russian Empire, into a poor Armenian family. His father was a modest Armenian trader. His mother was a traditional homemaker. His early talent as an artist earned him a scholarship to study at the Simferopol gymnasium. From 1833-1839 Aivasovsky studied at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, where he was a student of professor Mikhail Vorob'ev, and graduated with the Gold Medal.

Aivazovsky was sent to paint in Crimea and in Italy, being sponsored by the Russian Imperial Academy for 6 years from 1838-1844. His numerous paintings of Mediterranean seascapes won him popularity among art collectors, such as the Russian Czars, the Ottoman Sultan, and among the various nobility in many countries. His dramatic depiction of a sea storm with the survivors from a shipwreck, known as 'The Ninth Wave' (1850), made him extremely famous. The original canvas is in the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. He also made many variations and repetitions of this particular painting, as well, as of his other popular works.

Aivazovsky produced over six thousand paintings of variable quality over the course of his long life. Most of his works were made on a longstanding commission from the Imperial Russian Navy Headquarters, where he worked for the most of his life, from the 1840s until 1900. He earned a considerable fortune, which he spent for charity, and also used for the foundation of the first School of Arts (in 1865) and the Art Gallery (in 1889) in his home town of Feodosia.

Aivazovsky was a member of Academies of Rome, Florence, Stuttgart and Amsterdam. He died on May 5, 1900, in Feodosia.