Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (1817–1900) stands out among the artists of the Russian school who devoted their talent to the sea. He went down in the history of art as one of the greatest marine painters. Ivan Konstantinovich became a legend for his contemporaries, won the love of European monarchs and art lovers, and had his works bought by Pope Gregory XVI and Emperor Nicholas I.
Ivan Aivazovsky, the son of a merchant from Feodosia, Gevorg Ayvazyan, graduated from the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts with a Grand Gold Medal. He finished his studies two years ahead of schedule.
As a student, Aivazovsky chose seascape as the main theme of his work. By nature, Ivan Konstantinovich was endowed with talent, phenomenal visual memory, vivid imagination and a steady hand. He worked easily and enthusiastically. In the spring of 1838, after graduating from the Academy, Ivan Aivazovsky went to the Crimea.
During his life, Ivan Konstantinovich painted more than 6 thousand artworks. His creative legacy consisted of works of the battle and historical genre, of paintings on biblical themes. The peculiarity of the artist’s work was the romantic depiction of the power and grandness of the sea element, which he understood like no other.
The artist finished the painting “After the Shipwreck, ” which is now featured in the permanent exhibition of the Gorlovka Art Museum, in 1874. This work belongs to the mature stage of the painter’s creative activity. The painting “After the Shipwreck” depicts a story about the fate of people who suffered during the storm. It is filled with the idea of affirming life and believing in the best. With great skill, the artist depicted the picturesque beauty of the sea and azure transparent sky.
The composition of the
painting was carefully thought out by the artist who tried to express the idea
of hope for salvation. It is evidenced by the peaceful, sunrise-colored sea,
and the figure of a man on a rock, who points with his hand to the horizon,
where a ship must have appeared. In the same 1874, Ivan Konstantinovich
Aivazovsky created a number of works: “The Ship Thrown on the Rocks, ” “Crimean
Landscape with a Sailboat”.
