Aivazovsky's Canvases: Awash in a Sea of Color

Once described by the English painter J.M.W. Turner as a "great artist inspired by genius," Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900) is one of the most striking Russian painters of the 19th century. His luminous sunsets and bold use of color and the visionary floating worlds of his seascapes are strongly reminiscent of Turner, while the turbulent plasticity of his later works have something of Sargent's swirling skyscapes. A major exhibition of Aivazovsky's work is now showing at the Central House of Artists.


Much of Aivazovsky's work has so far been confined to the gallery he founded in his native Feodosiya, Crimea. This Moscow exhibition of 29 paintings and seven drawings, on loan from the Feodosiya Gallery, represents a broad cross-section of his prodigious output and an important retrospective of one of Russia's most remarkable and underrated artists.


The works on show, most of them in oil, range from his early genre pieces such as "Crimea Landscape" (1859) -- strongly rooted in the classical landscape tradition of early Turner -- to more mature, passionate seascapes such as "After Sunset on the Ocean" (1898), in which he moves away from poised compositions to more plastic, impressionistic swirls of form and color.


The artist's mastery in painting water is evident in classic seascapes and water studies such as "The Ship 'Twelve Apostles'" (1897) and "Niagara Falls" (1893). The complex kinetics and light effects of waves and waterfalls are captured with confidence and verve.


Aivazovsky's superlative skill as a colorist is reflected in the boldly structured "Israelites Crossing the Red Sea" (1873). The canvas is dominated by a black sky, dwarfing a crowd of figures outlined in a blood-red light.


But the most impressive works are Aivazovsky's luminous light studies, such as "Bullrushes on the Dniepr" (1857), or "Misty Morning in Italy" (1864), where he achieves a spectacular, ethereal translucence. Other light studies, such as "Vico on a Moonlit Night" (1856) or "Walking on Water" (1863), have a flavor of the painter Wright of Derby or Gericault's "Raft of the Medusa." In "Vico," moonlit boats float on a black sea, the shoreline picked out in pale white light, and in "Walking on Water," a glowing, serene Christ figure illuminates the amazed faces of the fishermen in their storm-tossed boat.


Though Aivazovsky is most famous as a seascape painter, landscapes and sketches are well represented, showing him to be a consummate draftsman as well as a painter of motion. His pencil and chalk drawings of seaside towns are beautifully observed, technically perfect and executed with a lightness of touch and restraint that belies the passion of his later storm paintings.


During the 60 years of his working life, Aivazovsky produced over 4,000 canvases, and traveled widely in Italy, Greece, England and Holland. His love for his native Crimea never faded, and it is his Ukrainian paintings that are among his most visionary and heartfelt. "I readily spend the winter in St. Petersburg," he wrote, "But as soon as there is a breath of spring in the air, I am overwhelmed by a longing for my homeland, I am drawn to the Crimea." During his society days he was also a friend of Pushkin, Glinka and of his fellow Ukrainian Nikolai Gogol.


The exhibition is the first privately organized and funded show of a major Russian artist's work in Moscow. It is also the first major art exchange between Russia and Ukraine since the end of the Soviet Union. Art Academy, a private gallery, arranged the show with the cooperation of the Feodosiya Gallery and the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture, and rented the exhibition space from the Central House of Artists.


"We're very glad to be able to bring such a great painter back to prominence," said Art Academy's Alexei Fadeyev. "Though this is a commercial venture, it is also important for the cultural life of the city. Now that Ukraine is a foreign country, not so many people have an opportunity to travel there to see the paintings in Feodosiya."


Around 1,500 people visit the exhibition every day, said Fadeyev; not as many as for the hit Dali exhibition last year, but still remarkable for a classical Russian painter. At 15,000 rubles ($3.40) a ticket, the venture looks as though it will be a commercial success, paving the way for more commercially sponsored visiting exhibitions. "Some people say that the entrance fee is too high," said Fadeyev. "But compared to paying 30,000 rubles for a two minute ride on the attractions in Gorky Park across the road, it's very cheap."





The Aivazovsky exhibit runs through Sept. 24 at the Central House of Artists, 10 Krymsky Val, tel. 238-9634. Nearest metro: Park Kultury or Oktyabrskaya.