In September 1839, the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts issued Ivan Aivazovsky, the son of an Armenian merchant from Feodosia, a certificate for the title of artist of the 14th class for special achievements in painting, the rank and personal nobility given by the Emperor Nicholas I. Forthwith the four-year trip to Europe ‘for further improvement in the arts’ awaited, where he departed in the summer of 1840.
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Ivan Aivazovsky
The Night
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Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (1817–1900). The Gulf of Naples in Moonlight. 1842. Oil on canvas. Feodosian Art Gallery named after I.K. Aivazovsky
Among the artists of the XIX century there was a tradition of poetic perception of Italy, therefore, Ivan Aivazovsky went there first, and it was there where he developed his personal style when a short stay in the open air turned into a multi-day work in the workshop. He restored landscapes from memory, leaving room for improvisation.
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A person who is not gifted with a memory preserving the impressions of wildlife can be an excellent copyist, living photo camera, but never a true artist. The movements of the living elements are elusive for the brush: to paint a lightning, a gust of wind, a wave surge is unreal from nature. To do so, the artist must remember them, and with these accidents, as well as the effects of light and shadows, make up his picture.
Ivan Aivazovsky
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The painting ‘Night’ from the collection of the Penza Art Gallery was painted in 1849 in the artist’s hometown Feodosia, as a memory of his travels in Italy from 1840–1844. With a subtle poetic feeling, the artist conveyed the romance of the enchanting southern night, the expanse of the sea in the moonlight, picturesque trees set against the melting mountains. Everything in this work is filled with peace and tranquility, and only a cloud of smoke above Vesuvius recalls the dormant force of nature.
Moonlit nights in Venice, the gulf of Naples, in Constantinople, in Feodosia, in Yalta, in Gurzuf, in the storm and in the dead calm, with the view on Vesuvius, Ayu-Dag or in the open sea… Ivan Aivazovsky creates paintings with moonlight landscapes through all his life, each time conveying in a new way the depth of the sleeping or raging sea under the changing light of the moon. “The Sea is my life, ” he said.
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In this picture I see the moon with its gold and silver, standing above the sea and reflecting in it… The surface of the sea, on which a light breeze swells with a quivering wimple, seems like a field of sparks or a multitude metal spangles on the mantle of the great king! . Forgive me, great artist, if I was mistaken (taking the picture for reality), but your work fascinated me, and delight invaded me. Your art is high and powerful, because you were inspired by a genius!
William Turner, British seascape painter
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Penza Regional Picture Gallery named after K.A. Savitsky
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The Night
Creation period
1849
Dimensions
39x58 cm
Technique
oil on canvas
Exhibition
6
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