IVAN KONSTANTINOVICH AIVAZOVSKY

Biography and Early Years

BIOGRAPHY

Born on 17 July 1817 in Feodosia to an Armenian merchant family, Aivazovsky demonstrated early artistic talent and received support for formal training. In 1833 he entered the Imperial Academy of Arts in St Petersburg, studying under Mikhail Vorobyov and the French marine painter Philippe Tanner. During his studies he received several academic awards for marine views.

In 1837 he was awarded the Gold Medal and granted a scholarship to travel in Europe. Between 1840 and 1844 he worked in Italy, France, the Netherlands and England, where his works were exhibited and acquired by private collectors. This European period significantly strengthened his international reputation.

In 1844 he was appointed Painter to the Main Naval Staff of Russia, gaining access to naval expeditions and documentary materials concerning the fleet. In 1847 he became Professor at the Imperial Academy of Arts. He was also elected honorary member of academies in Amsterdam, Rome, Paris and Florence. Aivazovsky spent much of his life in Feodosia, where he founded an art school and supported cultural initiatives. He died there on 2 May 1900.

CAREER MILESTONES

The early 1830s were shaped by Academic training and Romantic aesthetics, which defined his interest in the dramatic states of nature. Following his European travels, he developed a mature personal style based on strong contrasts of light and carefully structured compositions.

During the 1850s and 1860s he produced large-scale naval battle paintings devoted to episodes from Russian maritime history. Documentary accuracy was combined with Romantic interpretation. In the 1870s and 1880s he expanded his geographical range to the Mediterranean, the Caucasus and Crimea. His late period is marked by remarkable productivity and recurring subjects such as storms, shipwrecks, moonlit seas and sunsets. He continued to exhibit widely in Russia and Europe throughout his career.

STYLE, TECHNIQUE AND ARTISTIC VISION

Aivazovsky worked within Romanticism while maintaining Academic compositional principles. His principal field was Marine Painting, which he elevated to a major genre within historical and landscape art.

His compositions are organised around a dominant source of light that structures space and directs the movement of waves. He rarely worked from prolonged plein-air studies, preferring to paint from memory, creating a generalised yet convincing image of the sea. His technique is characterised by layered glazing, producing depth, transparency and atmospheric luminosity.

The palette ranges from cool silvery blues to warm golden sunset tones. The contrast between calm water and dynamic waves became a defining feature of his artistic language and influenced later generations of marine painters.

LEGACY AND MASTERPIECES

Key works include The Ninth Wave (1850, State Russian Museum), The Black Sea (1881, Tretyakov Gallery), View of Constantinople and the Bosphorus (1856, State Hermitage Museum) and Among the Waves (1898, Feodosia Art Gallery). Aivazovsky established the academic tradition of Marine Painting in Russia and influenced European seascape art.

PRICE HISTORY

Masterpieces: Monumental autograph works with documented provenance occupy the upper market segment. Price range €1 million - 10 million. Record sale: View of Constantinople and the Bosphorus, 2012, approximately £3.2 million at a major international auction house.

Workshop / Circle of: Works executed under the master’s supervision or within his studio environment show sustained demand. Price range €100,000 - 1 million. Record sale: marine painting, 2020, approximately €870,000.

Followers / School of: Later works executed in Aivazovsky’s manner form the lower segment of the market. Price range €1,000 - 100,000. Record sale: marine scene by a follower, 2022, approximately €95,000.