Ivan Aivazovsky studied landscape painting at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. He was awarded the title of class artist of the 1st degree and was receiving grants from the Academy for four years: he studied art and painted his own artworks in many European countries. Aivazovsky lived in Rome, visited Venice, Florence, Naples. The artist worked so fast that there were always several completed paintings in his studio, and newspapers published articles where his paintings were highly appreciated.
Joseph Turner, a famous marine artist in Europe at that time, wrote a poem to express his delight about Aivazovsky’s painting. This was probably the artwork “Bay of Naples in a moonlit night”, which the artist created in summer 1841. Aivazovsky recalled that during trips along the shores of the Bay of Naples he learnt about the color of the Italian sky and water and the secrets of aerial perspective. During this period, it was the last time when he tried to make a painting directly from nature, because later he came to the conclusion that “the movements of the living elements are impossible to capture with the brush.”
An excellent visual memory, a huge stock of observations and a rich imagination later gave Aivazovsky the opportunity to compose paintings. He became an improviser artist. Marinas — paintings with sea views, especially those with images of the coast of Italy — were his passion during all his life. The artist was the master of the marine sceneries: he used special techniques to show the movement of water and its transparency, he knew how to paint the pearl-colored foam on the waves and light melting clouds. Aivazovsky created the artwork “Scenery with Vesuvius” in 1896 based on his memories of the time when he had lived in Naples. The painting is based on a gray-ochre-blue color scheme. Although the artist used a limited number of colors, the color of the painting he created, was very rich, with a huge number of shades.
Ivan Aivazovsky painted not only marinas, but also city views, steppe and mountain landscapes. He is known to be the author of over 6,000 pictures. During his lifetime, the painter became famous all over the world and became a member of five academies of arts — in St. Petersburg, Stuttgart, Florence, Rome and Amsterdam.
An excellent visual memory, a huge stock of observations and a rich imagination later gave Aivazovsky the opportunity to compose paintings. He became an improviser artist. Marinas — paintings with sea views, especially those with images of the coast of Italy — were his passion during all his life. The artist was the master of the marine sceneries: he used special techniques to show the movement of water and its transparency, he knew how to paint the pearl-colored foam on the waves and light melting clouds. Aivazovsky created the artwork “Scenery with Vesuvius” in 1896 based on his memories of the time when he had lived in Naples. The painting is based on a gray-ochre-blue color scheme. Although the artist used a limited number of colors, the color of the painting he created, was very rich, with a huge number of shades.
Ivan Aivazovsky painted not only marinas, but also city views, steppe and mountain landscapes. He is known to be the author of over 6,000 pictures. During his lifetime, the painter became famous all over the world and became a member of five academies of arts — in St. Petersburg, Stuttgart, Florence, Rome and Amsterdam.
