Ivan Aivazovsky holds a special place in the history of Russian and international landscape painting tradition. A vivid representative of the Russian Romanticism, and a master of color whose technique inimitably transmits the moon and sunlight effects, Aivazovsky created over six thousand paintings over the course of his long life. The early recognition of the talented marine painter sustained over his career of sixty years. The artist´s work is distinguished primarily by the deep sense of the majestic beauty of the sea, which sets his paintings apart from everything else that was created in the field of marine art in the 19th century. Renowned Russian composer and music critic Cesar Cui nicknamed him the ‘fiery poet of the sea’.
Aivazovsky’s romantic work is characterized by the image of the rough sea and the human battle with the force of nature as a dramatic action, “staged” according to theatrical rules. Yet the work from the Omsk Museum collection illustrates other features of the artist’s romanticism: his interest in the transitional states of nature, nuances of lighting, and color gradation.
The painting ‘Embankment of the oriental town’ most likely depicts the city of Constantinople, a place Aivazovsky considered the most beautiful on earth. One part of the painting represents a group of Turkish people relaxing at a coffee house. Such coffee houses appeared in the Arab East in the 11th century as clubs for some men, where women were not allowed access. That was a special space for men to drink coffee, have leisurely conversations, make deals, play chess, smoke hookah, and take a break from the hustle of the world.
The ‘life of the sunlight’ convincingly conveys the idyllic state of nature and the mood of the people. The canvas is penetrated by a soft radiance, the source of which is not shown on the painting. The golden light unites the coloristic structure of the composition. Both the diagonal coastline, which forms an acute angle with the lower edge of the painting and the sailing ships, as if floating in the air, create a very complex multidirectional movement on the canvas. That approach enlivens the composition, which at first glance seems absolutely calm and motionless.
There is a riddle in the picture: it is almost impossible to determine whether the artist depicted sunset or sunrise. If you look at the shore water, almost motionless and transparent like glass, it reminds you an early morning at sea. However, looking at the people who might be tired after a long exhausting day or at the sunbeam illuminating the sail it seems to be a sunset. At sea you see the morning, on the shore you have the evening. The eternal and unsolved mystery of art.
