“He was, O sea, your singer. "To the Sea" A

Notes

Farewell to the sea is associated with Pushkin’s departure from Odessa, where he lived for a year, to a new exile - to Mikhailovskoye. The original edition was written in Odessa, and stanzas about Napoleon and Byron were written in Mikhailovsky. The thirteenth stanza, central in significance, could not appear in print during Pushkin’s lifetime. In 1825 it was printed as follows:

This line was followed by a gap corresponding to three lines, and under the text there was a sly note: “In this place the author put three and a half lines of dots. This poem was delivered to the publishers by the book. P. A. Vyazemsky in the original and here printed exactly in the form in which it came from the pen of Pushkin himself. Some lists of it circulating around the city are distorted by absurd additions. Publishers." Two months later, in the first collection “Poems of Alexander Pushkin” (St. Petersburg, 1826), this stanza appeared in a slightly expanded form:

The genre is historical elegy (a combination of elegiac and historical), the motive of the uncontrollability of the sea elements. He compares this element with Byron: he has the spirit of the sea with his rebellion. He writes about Napoleon, comprehends this figure from a historical point of view.

The evolution of Pushkin’s views on Napoleon is interesting (see “Napoleon”, “ Queen of Spades", "Hero")

The sea, like the ocean, an element, a storm, a thunderstorm, in Pushkin’s romantic lyrics more than once became a transparent allegory of political or personal freedom. But in this poem, “free element” is not an allegory, but a capacious symbol of freedom, not amenable to any unambiguous interpretation. The sea is a symbol of any natural and human element. His willfulness reveals the indomitable will, power and unpredictability of the world element, surrounding a person. It also evokes associations with the “elements” public life: riots, revolutions, uprisings. Pushkin likens the sea to a living creature possessed by rebellious impulses of spirit. This is a humanized “free element”, close to the soul of the romantic poet and the “geniuses” he revered: Byron and Napoleon. But the sea is also a symbol human life, which can “take” anywhere, to any “land”. In order to emphasize the boundlessness of the sea-life, Pushkin calls it “ocean”, a huge water desert. The poet can only be struck by “one rock, the tombs of glory” - the island of St. Helena, where “Napoleon faded away.”

Literary scholars call Pushkin’s “The Sea” an elegy. The poem appeared in November 1824. In it, Pushkin reflects on the freedom of the creative spirit, the human personality, comparing it with the free, all-powerful sea element. You can read the text of Pushkin’s poem “To the Sea” on the website.

An unknown romantic hero, standing on a motionless shore, listens to the murmur of the sea waves, looks at the powerful, impetuous unbridled water element. The sea does not obey any laws; the fate of both a flock of large ships and a fishing boat depends on its whim. The sea calls, conquers, attracts the hero with its solemn beauty, plunging into the mysterious abyss of inexplicable freedom. This freedom is given from above, it is not constrained by power, education, or a tyrant. But like Byron's proud romantic hero, Pushkin's lyrical hero remains alone on a deserted shore. He cannot break the shackles of human laws of life. However, no one has the right to deprive a poet of his highest gift - to immerse himself in the element of feelings, akin to the elements of the sea, and give birth to lyrical lines of amazing power of expression.

The poem “To the Sea” by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was a kind of result of the southern period of the poet’s work. You can download the work on the website.

Farewell, free elements!
For the last time before me
You're rolling blue waves
And you shine with proud beauty.

Like a friend's mournful murmur,
Like his call at the farewell hour,
Your sad noise, your inviting noise
I heard it for the last time.

My soul's desired limit!
How often along your shores
I wandered silent and foggy,
We languish with cherished intentions!

I loved your reviews so much
Muffled sounds, abyssal voices,
And silence in the evening hour,
And wayward impulses!

The humble sail of the fishermen,
Guarded by your whim,
Glides bravely among the swells:
But you jumped, irresistible, -
And a flock of ships are sinking.

Couldn't leave it forever
I find the boring, motionless shore
Congratulate you with delight
And guide along your ridges
My poetic escape.

You waited, you called... I was chained;
My soul was torn in vain:
Enchanted by powerful passion,
I was left by the shores.

What to regret? Wherever now
Have I set out on a careless path?
One item in your desert
It would strike my soul.

One rock, a tomb of glory...
There they fell into a cold sleep
Majestic memories:
Napoleon was dying there.

There he rested amidst torment.
And after him, like the noise of a storm,
Another genius rushed away from us,
Another ruler of our thoughts.

Disappeared, mourned by freedom,
Leaving the world your crown.
Make noise, get excited by bad weather:
He was, O sea, your singer.

Your image was marked on it,
He was created by your spirit:
How powerful, deep and gloomy you are,
Like you, indomitable by nothing.

The world is empty... Now where to
Would you take me out, ocean?
The fate of people everywhere is the same:
Where there is a drop of good, there is on guard
Enlightenment or tyrant.

Goodbye sea! I won't forget
Your solemn beauty
And I will hear for a long, long time
Your hum in the evening hours.

In the forests, in the deserts are silent
I’ll bear it, I’m full of you,
Your rocks, your bays,
And the shine, and the shadow, and the sound of the waves.

Continuing the theme of Pushkin in the work of Aivazovsky, paintings dedicated to the great poet.

Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky dedicated about twenty paintings and drawings to the poet. Perhaps they were written in memory of their meeting. They met only once, briefly, in 1836. This acquaintance is very similar to how, at the Lyceum exam in 1815, Derzhavin, on the verge of death, blessed young Pushkin.
Then, in September 1836, Pushkin visited an exhibition at the Academy of Arts, where he was introduced to 19-year-old Aivazovsky as one of the most talented academicians.
This meeting sunk into Aivazovsky’s soul. 60 years later, in 1896, in a letter, he recalled it in detail:

Nowadays they talk so much about Pushkin and there are so few people left who knew personally the sun of Russian poetry, the great poet, that I kept wanting to write a few words from my memories of him.

Here they are: in 1836, three months before his death, precisely in September, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin came to the Academy with his wife Natalya Nikolaevna for our September exhibition. Having learned that Pushkin was at an exhibition in the Antique Gallery, we, students of the Academy and young artists, ran there and surrounded him. He stood arm in arm with his wife in front of a painting by Lebedev, a gifted landscape painter. Pushkin admired her.
Our inspector of the Academy, Krutov, who accompanied him, looked for Lebedev among everyone to introduce him to Pushkin, but Lebedev was not there, and when he saw me, he took my hand and introduced me to Pushkin, as he had received a gold medal at that time (I was graduating from the Academy). Pushkin greeted me very kindly and asked where my paintings were. I pointed them out to Pushkin; as I remember now, there were two of them: “Clouds from the Oranienbaum seashore” and the other - “A group of Chukhonians on the shore of the Gulf of Finland.” Having learned that I am a Crimean native, great poet asked me what city I was from, and if I had been here for so long, then whether I was homesick and whether I was sick in the north. Then I took a good look at him and even remember what the lovely Natalya Nikolaevna was wearing.

The poet’s beautiful wife wore a black velvet dress, a bodice with intertwined black ribbons and real lace, and on her head was a large fawn straw hat with a large ostrich feather, and on her hands were long white gloves. We, all the students, escorted our dear guests to the entrance.

Since then, my already beloved poet has become the subject of my thoughts, inspiration and long conversations and questions about him...

Some of the artist’s famous paintings are about a visit to A.S. Pushkin, Aivazovsky’s homeland - Crimea, in those years also called Taurida. Few people saw it; only a few individuals went there. It was a land covered in legends, the blessed “midday land.”
“From the Taman Peninsula, the ancient Tmutarakan principality, the shores of the Crimea opened up to me.” The news that the legendary Russian principality was located on the Taman Peninsula became a sensation late XVIII centuries. In 1792, a marble slab with a Russian inscription from 1068-1069 was found at the Taman settlement, which mentioned Tmutarakan. Pushkin was probably shown this stone, on which it was written: “In the summer of 6576 (1065), index 6, Prince Gleb measured the sea on the ice, from Tmutarakan to Kerch 30054 fathoms.”

Pushkin on the Black Sea coast. 1887.

Nikolaev Art Museum named after. V.V.Vereshchagina, Ukraine

In the spring of 1820, Pushkin was removed from St. Petersburg, having received a promotion - seconded to the office of General I.N. Inzov, trustee of foreign colonists in southern Russia.

“I see a distant shore, magical lands of the midday”
These lines were born when Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was crossing the Kerch Strait to the Crimean land on August 27 (new style) August 1820.

A.S. Pushkin in Crimea near the Gurzuf rocks. 1880

Pushkin came to Crimea with the family of General N.N. Raevsky. The general's son Nikolai Raevsky was Pushkin's friend from the Lyceum, and the disgraced poet was allowed to travel to the Caucasus and Crimea with this family.
Having stayed with a hospitable colleague Nikolai Raevsky in the Caucasus, they set off on August 30 by sea on the corvette “Abo” to Gurzuf. Pushkin and the Raevsky family sailed past Alushta, admiring its surroundings. There is no exact information, but there are assumptions that Alexander Sergeevich visited the places he saw from the sea during horseback rides that he made from Gurzuf.

A. S. Pushkin and Raevskaya in Gurzuf

A. S. Pushkin and Countess Raevskaya by the sea near Gurzuf 1886

“From here (from Feodosia) we set off by sea past the midday shores of Tauris to Yurzuf... The ship sailed in front of mountains covered with poplars, grapes, laurels and cypresses; Tatar villages flashed everywhere... When I woke up, I saw a captivating picture: multi-colored mountains shone; the flat roofs of Tatar huts from a distance they seemed like beehives attached to the mountains; poplars, like green columns, rose slenderly between them; on the right is the huge Ayu-Dag... and all around is the blue, clear sky, and the bright sea, and the shine, and the midday air..." A.S. Pushkin

A. S. Pushkin on top of Ai-Petri at sunrise 1899


State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

The poet recalled: “When I woke up at night, I loved to listen to the sound of the sea and listened for hours.”
It is noted that the artist also loved to depict his native Feodosia against the backdrop of the sunset sky - this is how Pushkin saw it and described it in his elegy when he sailed from Fedosia to Gurzuf in 1820:

The daylight has gone out;
The evening fog fell on the blue sea.
Make noise, make noise, obedient sail,
Worry beneath me, sullen ocean.
I see a distant shore
The lands of the midday are magical lands.
I rush there with excitement and longing,
Drunk with memories...

Moonrise in Feodosia 1892

Moonlight night. Bath in Feodosia 1853

Feodosia on a moonlit night. View from the balcony of Aivazovsky's house to the sea and city 1880

Pushkin spent a month in Crimea, and almost three weeks in Gurzuf, which became not only a vacation in the circle of the Raevsky family dear to his heart, but also a fruitful creative period.

Farewell A.S. Pushkin with the sea. 1877


All-Russian Museum of A.S. Pushkin, St. Petersburg
The picture was performed together with I.E. Repin. Repin painted Pushkin, the landscape was done by Aivazovsky. The painting is dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the poet’s death. The plot was taken from Pushkin’s poem “To the Sea”.

Goodbye sea! I won't forget
Your solemn beauty
And I will hear for a long, long time
Your hum in the evening hours.
In the forests, in the deserts are silent
I’ll bear it, I’m full of you,
Your rocks, your bays,
And the shine, and the shadow, and the sound of the waves.

In 1847, on the tenth anniversary of Pushkin’s death, Aivazovsky gave his widow his painting “Moonlit Night at the Seaside. Constantinople."

“Moonlit night by the seaside. Constantinople."1847


Feodosia Art Gallery named after. I.K. Aivazovsky

Contemporaries found that Aivazovsky looked like Pushkin!
Vyazemsky wrote to Pogodin before Aivazovsky’s visit to Moscow: “Our famous painter Aivazovsky would like to meet you. In addition to his excellent talent, he has one more special advantage: in appearance he resembles our A.S. Pushkin. Treat him in Moscow both for his talent and for his resemblance...”

Once Aivazovsky portrayed Pushkin in full height. Did Aivazovsky write Pushkin from memory? After all, the great poet never posed for the great marine painter. Aivazovsky creates paintings with Pushkin in last quarter XIX century, half a century after the death of his idol. And one cannot help but think that he wrote it from himself.

A.S. Pushkin on the Black Sea coast. 1897


Odessa Art Museum, Ukraine

Ivan Aivazvosky. Self-portrait, 1892

Feodosia Art Gallery

Ivan Aivazvosky. Self-portrait. 1874.


Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

200th anniversary of I.K. Dedicated to Aivazovsky

Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky... It seems that there is no person who does not know the name of this artist. If you ask any passerby, they will probably answer you something like: “Yes, I heard something. He painted the sea." Indeed, it was seascapes that glorified Ivan Konstantinovich. Throughout his life, he painted more than 6,000 paintings and organized more than 125 solo exhibitions.

The paintings of Ivan Aivazovsky are true masterpieces. And not even from the technical side. What comes to the fore here is a surprisingly truthful reflection of the nature of the water element. And naturally, there is a desire to understand the nature of Aivazovsky’s genius. Today we will try to open the doors to amazing world one of the most famous marine painters in history visual arts- Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky.

Family, childhood in Feodosia.

Aivazovsky’s ancestors were from Galician Armenians who moved to Galicia from Turkish Armenia in the 18th century. Ivan's future father - Konstantin (Gevorg) Gayvazyan(as he wrote his last name Ayvazyan in the Polish manner) was a sociable, enterprising and capable person. He spoke several languages: Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Hungarian and Turkish. From Galicia, in his youth, he moved to Wallachia, and then to Feodosia, which began to rapidly grow in the field of declaring it a “porto-franco” (i.e., a duty-free port). Konstantin Grigorievich, not rich, but enterprising, successfully engaged in trade and married a beautiful neighbor - an Armenian woman named Hripsime. Hripsime was a skilled needlewoman and often spent nights embroidering for sale in order to support the family budget.

In this family July 29 (17 S.S.) 1817 was born third son – Hovhannes, as the priest of the Armenian Church recorded, “ Hovhannes, son of Gevorg Ayvazyan" Singing a lullaby over her son, Hripsime affectionately called her son not Ivan or Hovhannes, but Onik, almost onyx. This is the name given to a stone in which the sea waves of the sea itself seem to be imprinted. different color. Onyx is the stone of leaders and soothsayers; it brings joy and protects from troubles. This is exactly what Hovhannes Ayvazyan, Gaivazovsky or Ivan Aivazovsky will be. All his life he will protect and provide assistance to those who need it, and his paintings will bring joy and make people believe that their dreams will come true, sooner or later. He would build schools and galleries, organize exhibitions and teach young artists free of charge.

In the meantime, little Onik still needs to grow up. Every morning he wakes up to the sound of the waves, from the window of his house he sees the expanse of the sea and absorbs the smell of the sea. Together with friends he runs to swim in the bay in Quarantine and goes to the seaport, admire the ships and listen to endless sea ​​stories. This is how a very important character appeared in his life - water, which Aivazovsky learned to love and understand from childhood.

Hovhannes was a very gifted child - he learned to play the violin himself and began to draw. The family was poor and there was no money for paper, paint or brushes, so instead of canvas the boy was content with the plastered walls of houses, and the brush was replaced by a piece of coal.

It so happened that Fortune turned to Aivazovsky and the amazingly talented boy was noticed by two prominent benefactors at once. First, the talented “rock paintings” were noticed by the Feodosian architect Yakov Khristianovich Koch. He also gave Vanya his first lessons in fine arts. And at the same time, the mayor Alexander Ivanovich Kaznacheev became interested in the boy’s “arts” and wished to personally meet the “artist.”

It is Kaznacheev who will play this important role in the fate of Aivazovsky. He will take custody of him, transfer him from the parish school to the district school, and hire him and his son (Hovhannes’s peer) an art teacher.

In 1829, Treasurer was appointed governor of Tauride and the family, together with their pupil Ivan Gaivazovsky, moved to Simferopol, which completely fascinated him: houses with luxurious gardens, well-groomed neat streets, walks in a carriage and on horseback, new acquaintances. And again, fate favors Ivan - his talent is noted by the architect Tonchi, who drew up a petition addressed to the Minister of the Imperial Court, Prince Pyotr Mikhailovich Volkonsky, and he, in turn, addressed to the President of the Academy of Arts Olenin “On the advisability of accepting I.K. Gaivazovsky as a student of the Academy."

Academy of Arts.

The result of the petitions was the adoption 13-year-old Hovhannes among the boarders of the imperial Academy of Arts, 23 August 1833 year he becomes a student of this educational institution in the class of Professor Maxim Nikiforovich Vorobyov, a great master of landscape, a good artist and a wise, kind mentor.

Over time, it became obvious that Aivazovsky had outgrown Vorobyov. Then he was sent as a student to the French marine painter Philippe Tanner. But Ivan did not get along with the foreigner and, due to illness (either fictitious or real), left him. Instead, he began working on a series of paintings for an exhibition. And it must be admitted that he created impressive canvases. It was then, in 1835, that he received a silver medal for his works “Study of air over the sea” and “View of the seaside in the vicinity of St. Petersburg.”

But alas, the capital was not only cultural center, but also the epicenter of intrigue. Tanner complained to his superiors about the rebellious Aivazovsky, saying, why did his student work for himself during his illness? Nicholas I, a well-known disciplinarian, personally ordered the removal of the young artist’s paintings from the exhibition. It was a very painful blow.

But even here, Aivazovsky’s friends and benefactors did not abandon him - the entire public vehemently opposed his groundless disgrace. Olenin, Zhukovsky, and court painter Sauerweid. Krylov himself personally came to console Hovhannes. In the end, justice triumphed - the emperor forgave the young artist and ordered the award.

Largely thanks to Sauerweid, Ivan was able to undergo summer internship on ships of the Baltic Fleet. Created just a hundred years ago, the fleet was already a formidable force. Russian state. And, of course, for a beginning marine painter it was impossible to find a more necessary, useful and enjoyable practice. Writing ships without the slightest idea about their structure is a crime!

All this time, Aivazovsky did not stop corresponding with his old benefactor Kaznacheev. It was thanks to him that Ivan began to enter the houses of Alexei Romanovich Tomilov and Alexander Arkadyevich Suvorov-Rymniksky, the grandson of the famous commander. At the Tomilovs' dacha, Ivan even spent summer holidays. It was then that Aivazovsky became acquainted with Russian nature, unusual for a southerner. But the artist’s heart perceives beauty in any form.

The top of the intelligentsia of that time gathered in the Tomilovs' house - Mikhail Glinka, Orest Kiprensky, Nestor Kukolnik, Vasily Zhukovsky. Evenings in such company were extremely interesting for the artist. Aivazovsky's senior comrades accepted him into their circle without any problems. The democratic tendencies of the intelligentsia and the extraordinary talent of the young man allowed him to take a worthy place in the company of Tomilov’s friends. In the evenings, Aivazovsky often played the violin in a special, oriental manner - resting the instrument on his knee or standing it upright.

About playing the violin.

The artist played the violin beautifully since childhood. During home receptions with close friends, he often delighted guests with his playing. They say that once Russian composer Mikhail Glinka attended one of these family concerts. He liked the Tatar motifs that Aivazovsky played so much that he later included a short excerpt played by the artist into his opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila”.

It is known that Aivazovsky was familiar with Pushkin and loved his poetry very much. ( they also say that young Aivazovsky was very similar to Pushkin) The death of Alexander Sergeevich was taken very painfully by Hovhannes; later he specially came to Gurzuf, precisely to the place where the great poet spent time ( Aivazovsky has a whole series of paintings depicting Pushkin). No less important for Ivan was meeting with Karl Bryullov. Having recently completed work on the canvas “The Last Day of Pompeii,” he came to St. Petersburg and each of the Academy students passionately wished that Bryullov would be his mentor. Aivazovsky was not a student of Bryullov, but often communicated with him personally, and Karl Pavlovich noted Hovhannes’ talent. The experienced painter saw that subsequent studies at the Academy would be more of a regression for Ivan - there were no teachers left who could give something new to the young artist. He proposed to the Academy council to shorten Aivazovsky’s training period and send him abroad. Moreover, it's new Marina Shtil won a gold medal at the exhibition, which gave the right to travel abroad. But instead of Venice and Dresden, Hovhannes was sent to Crimea for two years, which he was very happy about - he would be home again!

He finds time to communicate with his mother, father, sisters and brother - everyone is sincerely proud of Hovhannes, the most promising artist in St. Petersburg! At the same time, Aivazovsky is working hard. He writes for hours, and then, tired, he goes to the sea. Here he can feel that mood, that elusive excitement that the Black Sea aroused in him from an early age. How often friends and acquaintances were offended that the artist preferred his work in the studio to them!

And then one day General Raevsky visited his workshop, another fateful acquaintance. Nikolai Nikolaevich Raevsky, a lover of poetry and painting, a friend of Pushkin, to whom he dedicated the poem “Prisoner of the Caucasus,” was heading to the Caucasus, where he was supposed to lead the landing of Russian troops. And he invited Gaivazovsky with him to observe the military operations of the fleet (Raevsky’s landing in Subashi. 1839), at the same time drawing views of the eastern shores of the Black Sea, which until then few people had seen. And here Aivazovsky is on board the warship Colchis, where he is entrusted to the care of the captain... Pushkin. This was Alexander Sergeevich’s brother, Lev. During this campaign, Gaivazovsky also met and depicted Admiral M.P. Lazarev in paintings and drawings ( By the way, the artist did not like the portrait of Lazarev, who decided that his element was the sea), P.S. Nakhimova, V.A. Kornilov. Here fate brought him together with the Decembrists, demoted to soldiers by A.I. Odoevsky, N.I. Lorer and M.M. Naryshkin, who eagerly listened to his story about St. Petersburg, long-abandoned acquaintances and friends, about new exhibitions and theatrical productions, about the new star - Lermontov.

Over two summers in Crimea, Gaivazovsky gained experience, matured, had lessons at the Academy behind him, and is now a 14th grade artist. This means that an artist with a name can take orders and give lessons, but he doesn’t stop there. And the next stage of training and self-improvement is a business trip abroad.

In Italy.

He left with light hearted: earnings allowed me to help my parents, and to live quite comfortably myself. And although Aivazovsky first had to visit Berlin, Vienna, Trieste, Dresden, most of all he was drawn to Italy. There was the much-loved southern sea and the elusive magic of the Apennines. In July 1840, Ivan Aivazovsky and his friend and classmate Vasily Sternberg went to Rome.

And yet the first Italian city on their route was Venice. It is in Venice, in Armenian monastery of St. Lazarus took monastic vows beloved brother Gabriel(Gabriel), dear Garik, childhood playmate. The artist was met by a thin young monk, who dispassionately and calmly asked him about his family, Feodosius, and his successes at the Academy. Hovhannes, stunned by the colors of Venice, was in pain and incomprehensible why his brother voluntarily doomed himself to life in a monastery, with its boring theological treatises. Gaivazovsky was left to spend the night in the monastery; the abbot honored him by placing him in the room where Byron stayed, who was attracted by the rich library of the monastery. With the help of the monks, the great English poet studied the Armenian language and even compiled a small English-Armenian dictionary. His room was preserved as a museum and the placement of the young artist in it was an expression of high respect for his brother-monk, but for whom the monastery had high hopes.

Here I want to dwell on why we see the artist’s name spelled either as Hovhannes Ayvazyan, or as Ivan Gaivazvsky, or as Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky.

According to the version set out in one of the books about Aivazovsky (Lev Wagner, Nadezhda Grigorovich I.K. Aivazovsky. - M.: Art, 1970 .- 264 p.) it was his brother Gabriel (Gabriel), who studied the origin of their family and found out that Initially the ancestors’ surname was “Ayvazyan”, he proposed changing the spelling of the surname Gaivazovsky on Aivazovsky. AND younger brother agreed. From now on he will sign his paintings with this name.

There is also this version.

« My elder brother Gabriel Ayvazyan, an archbishop, a prominent scientist and publicist, wrote that my father’s name used to be Kaitan Ayvaz. Having moved from Moldova to Russia, my father appropriated the name Konstantin-Gevork, and considered it necessary to change the surname Ayvaz, or Gayvaz (the Armenian letter h is translated into Russian as either “G” or “A”) into Gayvazovsky. This was how it was written until 1840, and then they began to write - Aivazovsky. Konstantin-Gevorg Aivazovsky is our father, who died in 1841. Mother is Hripsime Aivazovskaya. In letters in my native language, I always wrote my name Hovhannes or Oganes (translated from Armenian into Russian - Ivan). And the last name is Aivazovsky or Ayvazyan. In official documents and among Russians I sign my name Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky." (from the collection “Aivazovsky. Documents and materials” (Yerevan. “Hayastan”. 1967)

In Venice, Aivazovsky turned his favorite St. Mark's Square into his workshop. He came here early in the morning with a sketchbook and got to work, and when the sun began to get hot, he moved into the shade of the porticoes of ancient buildings.

Here Aivazovsky met Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol and his friend the artist Alexander Andreevich Ivanov (author of “The Appearance of Christ to the People”). One day, while working, Aivazovsky heard someone behind him say admiringly: “Yak garneau daisy!” This was it N.V. Gogol, as it turned out, is a fan of Ivan Konstantinovich’s work. They became friends and often took gondola rides together along the countless canals of Venice.

This trip to Italy was very useful for Aivazovsky. He received a unique opportunity to study the works of great Italian masters. He spent hours standing by the canvases, sketching them, trying to understand the secret mechanism that made the creations of Raphael and Botticelli masterpieces. I tried to visit many interesting places, for example, in the house of Columbus in Genoa. And what landscapes he found! The Apennines reminded Ivan of his native Crimea, but with its own, different charm.

Bay of Naples immediately struck Aivazovsky with its incredible blue. IN different time for days the artist walks to its shores, observing the sea. He thoughtfully watched how the color of the water, the movement and sound of the waves changed. One day Aivazovsky went to the bay, as he told his friend Vasya Sternberg, to observe the water under different lighting. He left before dark... and never returned. In the morning, not finding his friend at home, the excited Sternberg ran to the shore, anything could have happened... And he found Aivazovsky sitting in the same place and in the same position as he left him. Aivazovsky did not feel tired and seemed to have little awareness that he had been sitting on the shore watching the sea all night.

Exhibitions of paintings by Aivazovsky were also held in Italy.. The public was invariably delighted and keenly interested in this young Russian, who managed to convey all the warmth of the south. Increasingly, they began to recognize Aivazovsky on the streets, come to his workshop and order works. “The Bay of Naples”, “View of Vesuvius on a Moonlit Night”, “View of the Venetian Lagoon” - these masterpieces were the embodiment of the Italian spirit, passed through the soul of Aivazovsky.

The great Joseph Mallord himself William Turner, painter, master of romantic landscape, watercolorist and engraver, member of the Royal Academy, dedicated poems to the painting “Neapolitan Night”: “In this picture I see the moon with its gold and silver, standing above the sea and reflected in it... The surface of the sea, onto which a light breeze causes a quivering swell, seems like a field of sparks or many metallic sparkles on the mantle of the great king! Forgive me great artist, if I was mistaken (taking the picture for reality), but your work charmed me, and delight took possession of me. Your art is high and powerful, because you are inspired by genius!”

Another remarkable fact speaks eloquently about the artist’s level of skill: his painting "Chaos" I wanted to buy it myself Pope. After all, the pontiff is used to receiving only the best! The artist refused payment, simply giving “Chaos” to Gregory 16. The Pope appreciated Aivazovsky’s broad gesture and did not leave him without a reward, presenting him with a gold medal. But the main thing is the effect of the gift in the world of painting - the name of Aivazovsky thundered throughout Europe. For the first, but far from the last time.

Fame did not spoil Aivazovsky, he did not become arrogant and did not rest on his laurels, continuing to work hard.

In April 1842, he sent some of the paintings to Petersburg and notified Olenin of his intention to visit France and the Netherlands. Ivan no longer asks for permission to travel - he has enough money, he has loudly declared himself and will be warmly received in any country. He asks only for one thing - that his salary be sent to his mother.

In the same 1842 he receives an invitation exhibit at the Louvre and gets it official permission Imperial Court. He officially represents Russia in Paris, moreover, he is allowed to present at the exhibition the paintings “that he is now painting” - that is, which no one has yet seen and whose value has not been determined! That's the level of trust!

In the very first days of the Paris exhibition, Aivazovsky’s paintings became an event in the artistic life of Paris. These were “The Sea in Calm Weather”, “Night on the Shores of the Bay of Naples” and “Storm off the Coast of Abkhazia”. The French Academy awarded Ivan Konstantinovich a gold medal.

But studying abroad doesn't end there. Looking for new water And new game light Aivazovsky rushes to Marseille and Naples. He travels by ship and stagecoach, takes hired carriages, and in some places he travels on peasant carts or on foot: London, Lisbon, Madrid, Grenada, Seville, Cadiz, Barcelona, ​​Malaga, Gibraltar, Malta. Four years abroad gave the world 80 paintings, not counting the drawings. Crowds of customers stood in front of the workshop, hoping buy at least something brushes of the great master (who is only 26 years old!).

While on a business trip abroad, Aivazovsky received two sad news - the death of Alexei Nikolaevich Olenin, President of the Academy of Arts, and then the death of his father. He experiences this news in his own way, as always – he works. The main thing is not to give in to despair, not to indulge yourself, and not to look for easy ways.

At the end of the summer of 1844, after a four-year stay in foreign lands, Aivazovsky returned to St. Petersburg: “ Mixed with the mass of impressions that remained in my memory during the four-year period of my stay abroad was, of course, the gratifying consciousness that these happiest years of youth were not fruitless for me, that I, to the best of my strength and abilities, lived up to... those expectations , which my compatriots placed on me. Rome, Naples, Venice, Paris, London, Amsterdam honored me with the most flattering encouragements, and internally I could not help but be proud of my successes in foreign lands, anticipating a sympathetic reception at home ».

27-year-old Aivazovsky is no longer a promising youth, but an accomplished artist with money and a position in society.

On September 1, 1844, the Council of the Academy of Arts unanimously awarded Aivazovsky the title of academician - his merits were rewarded. But that's not all. The Naval Ministry assigned the artist to the Main Naval Staff with the rank of first painter with the right to wear the uniform of the Naval Ministry. Among other things, this gave Aivazovsky new opportunities to demand assistance in his work from the Admiralty. " When I wrote types of naval battles, I was given all sorts of aids from the Admiralty: drawings of ships, ship equipment, weapons, etc. To give me the opportunity to see the flight of a cannonball ricocheting across the water surface, several cannon shots with live charges were fired in my presence in Kronstadt. To get a closer look at the movements of warships during naval battles, I attended naval maneuvers in the Gulf of Finland ».

Aivazovsky was given the task of painting views of Russian ports and coastal cities: Kronstadt, St. Petersburg, Peterhof, Revel, Sveaborg, Gangut. Within a few months, the order was completed, and Aivazovsky took on it with enthusiasm.

The next year was very busy. In April 1845, Ivan Konstantinovich was included in the expedition of the admiral Fyodor Petrovich Litke, which was heading to Constantinople (as the Turks call it - Istanbul). Having visited Turkey, Aivazovsky was struck by the beauty of Istanbul and the beautiful coast of Anatolia. The Armenians living in Turkey again called him Hovhannes Ayvazyan or “Ayvaz-effendi”: “ My voyage with His Imperial Majesty Konstantin Nikolaevich was extremely pleasant and interesting; everywhere I managed to sketch sketches for paintings, especially in Constantinople, which I admired. There is probably nothing in the world more majestic than this city; Naples and Venice are forgotten there ».

After some time, he returned to Feodosia, where he bought a plot of land and started building my house-workshop, which he designed personally. Many did not understand the artist - the sovereign’s favorite, a popular artist, why not live in the capital? Or abroad? Feodosia is a wild wilderness! But Aivazovsky didn’t think so; he set up an art gallery in a newly built house. Anyone could come and see his paintings. In addition, Aivazovsky visited cherished dream- create a painting school in the south of Russia and locate it in a spacious house.

In the new workshop, he created painting after painting. It was easy and joyful to work in my hometown. But it was impossible to stay here for long, Aivazovsky is not a free artist - he public service, and the Academy of Arts can call upon its academician at any time.

In 1846, Aivazovsky arrived in the capital and stayed there for several years. He holds exhibitions every six months: sometimes in St. Petersburg, sometimes in Moscow, completely different places, sometimes cash, sometimes free. And at every exhibition there was always the presence of Ivan Konstantinovich. He received thanks, came to visit, accepted gifts and orders. Free time in this bustle it was rare. But it was during this period that one of his most famous paintings was created - "The Ninth Wave".

Muses of Aivazovsky

Julia Grevs.

And so, at one of the receptions, Ivan Konstantinovich, a hitherto unmarried 30-year-old man leading a semi-monastic lifestyle, meets a girl who soon becomes his wife. His choice shocks secular society - Aivazovsky, who could have made an excellent match, chose... a governess as his wife! Yulia Yakovlevna Grevs- English by birth. Her father Jacob Grevs was the personal physician of Alexander I and went missing on the day of the death of his august patient. Julia was well educated and knew how to behave in secular society. Being married to Aivazovsky and having given birth to 4 daughters (Alexandra, Elena, Maria and Zhanna), Yulia Yakovlevna will raise each of them herself and raise them as true ladies.

But family happiness Aivazovsky's marriage lasted only a few years. Yulia Yakovlevna, who was bored with life in provincial Feodosia, as well as with worries about the future of her daughters, who would have to be married off (and not to Feodosia fishermen!!!) could not come to terms with her husband’s decision to settle in his beloved Feodosia forever. In the end, she began to increasingly go with her children to St. Petersburg, then to Yalta, then to Odessa, where she complained to her new friends about her husband’s “quirk.” Living together became further unbearable. In the 12th year of her life, her wife left Ivan Konstantinovich and never returned to him from Odessa, taking her daughters with her and only occasionally allowing them to visit their father. But despite this, the daughters were very attached to their father and raised their children in this love and affection for their grandfather.

Anna Sarkizova.

After breaking up with his wife, Aivazovsky for a long time was alone. He loved Yulia Yakovlevna very much and deep disappointment in her was painful for him. When Aivazovsky married for the second time, to a young widow, the beautiful Anna Nikitichna Sarkizova, he was 65, and the age difference between the spouses was three decades. They lived happily ever after, but did not die on the same day. After the death of the artist, Anna Nikitichna, as a sign of mourning, did not leave the house for 25 years (!), having survived the First World War, the revolution and civil war. She died in 1944 and was buried next to her husband.

It is interesting that no images of Aivazovsky’s first wife and daughters have survived at all. He simply didn't write them. Moreover, paintings depicting the second wife are widely known.

Death of an Artist.

Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky lived a long and eventful life. At the end of the 60s he traveled around the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, where he painted majestic mountains with snow-capped peaks (“Chain of the Caucasus Mountains”, “Mount Ararat”, “Eastern Bank near Sukhum”, “Daryal Gorge”, “Tiflis”, etc. ) In the fall of 1869 I went to the opening Suez Canal to Egypt (“Suez Canal”).

In 1872, an exhibition was held in Florence, for which he had been preparing for several years, but the effect exceeded all expectations - he was elected an honorary member of the Academy of Fine Arts, and his self-portrait adorned the gallery of the Pitti Palace - Ivan Konstantinovich stood on a par with the best artists of Italy and the world . He will visit abroad more than once on private visits and with new exhibitions, and there is nothing to say about exhibitions in Russia. He will also constantly look out for promising Russian artists and petition for their training at the Academy, helping, as his benefactors once helped him.

So, Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky lived a long and fruitful life, and died suddenly, on the night of April 19, 1900, from a cerebral hemorrhage, leaving the unfinished painting “The Explosion of the Ship” on his easel. Road to ancient temple St. Sergius, in which Aivazovsky was baptized and married and in whose courtyard he was buried, was strewn with flowers. Bells were ringing in all the churches, all the shops were closed, Feodosia was in mourning - people said goodbye not only to the great artist, but also to the great citizen who had done so much for his native city. An inscription was carved on the grave Armenian language: “Born mortal, he left behind an immortal memory.”

And Aivazovsky’s most precious legacy, along with his paintings, were his “gifts” to his native and beloved Feodosia.

Aivazovsky - Feodosia.

Art Gallery.

The Aivazovsky Art Gallery is located in the very center of Feodosia. And in 1845, when the artist was just starting to build it (in fact, he was building a house for himself, it later became a gallery), he chose a deserted place for this on the outskirts of the city, on the deserted seashore. The house was built according to Aivazovsky’s own design in the style of Italian Renaissance villas; it was decorated with copies of antique sculptures. Adjacent to the living rooms was a spacious workshop, in which Aivazovsky created most of the 6 thousand paintings he painted. In the same house, the famous marine painter opened an art school “in the field of painting” in 1865 marine species, landscapes and folk scenes." And in 1880, Aivazovsky added a huge exhibition hall to his workshop in Feodosia - an art gallery. This was the first provincial art gallery in Russia (before that there were such only in Moscow and St. Petersburg). In his spiritual testament, Aivazovsky wrote (and this is carved in stone at the entrance to the Aivazovsky gallery):

« My sincere desire is that the building of my art gallery in the city of Feodosia, with all the paintings, statues and other works of art in this gallery, be the full property of the city of Feodosia, and in memory of me, Aivazovsky, I bequeath the gallery to the city of Feodosia, my native city».

After the artist’s death, the art gallery, according to his will, became the property of the city and remains so to this day.

Proceeds from the exhibition are for museum of antiquities.

Aivazovsky was seriously interested in archaeology. In 1853, he officially submitted a letter of application to the Ministry of Appanages for permission to begin archaeological excavations in Feodosia. Having received permission, Aivazovsky, together with the archaeologist Sibirsky, began work. Excavations of the first four mounds did not produce results, but the fifth mound on Cape Ilya amazed researchers with its findings. They discovered a female burial from the 4th century BC. e, as the artist himself wrote, “a golden female head, the most elegant work, and several gold jewelry, as well as pieces of a beautiful Etruscan vase. This find gives hope that ancient Feodosia was in the same place. I am in awe of Feodosia!” Aivazovsky sent the precious finds to St. Petersburg, and now they are in the collection of the State Hermitage.

In total, during the summer of 1853, Aivazovsky excavated 80 mounds. But the artist’s special interest in the history of the city manifested itself not only in archaeological excavations. In 1871, using funds received from the exhibition of his paintings in St. Petersburg, Aivazovsky built a building for the Museum of Antiquities on Mithridates Hill (before that, the museum’s collection was housed in a small Turkish mosque).

The fate of the museum in the twentieth century is also connected with the name of Aivazovsky. In 1925 he was transferred to former house artist (where the museum was located until 1988), combining with an art gallery into one institution. The building on Mithridates Hill housed a seismic station in the 1930s, but during the war it was destroyed, presumably by a ship's shell.

50,000 buckets clean water.

Thanks to Aivazovsky, the railway came to Feodosia. But more importantly, the water came. In 1887, Ivan Konstantinovich addressed the City Duma of Feodosia with a letter: “ Unable to continue to remain a witness to the terrible disaster that the population of my native city experiences from lack of water year after year, I give them as eternal ownership 50,000 buckets a day of clean water from the Subash source that belongs to me.».

This source is the beginning of the Subash River, which flows into the Sea of ​​Azov, and it was located on the territory of the Aivazovsky family estate Shakh-Mamai (now the village of Aivazovskoye).

On October 1, 1888, the grand opening of the Subash water pipeline took place. Water from the artist’s estate came to Feodosia, traveling a 26-kilometer route through a pipeline built by the city. On October 1, the fountain started working. It was built at the expense of Aivazovsky and according to his own design. " Fountain in oriental style so good that neither in Constantinople nor anywhere else do I know such a successful one, especially in proportions“,” Aivazovsky noted in one of his letters. You could drink water from the fountain for free, from a special silver mug located near the fountain tap. On the mug was written: “For the health of his family” (that is, Aivazovsky’s family). Feodosia was provided with water from the Subashsky source until the launch of the North Crimean Canal in 1970. And, by the way, this water was extremely clean - in the early 1980s, scientists from Canada and Sweden took water samples and came to the conclusion: “The quality of the water from Subash springs allows it to be used for drinking by infants without boiling, but with simple purification from mechanical impurities "

Used sources.

Andreeva, Yu.I. Aivazovsky [Text] / Yulia Andreeva.- M.: Veche, 2013.- 383 pp., .- (Great historical figures)

Barsamov, N.S. I.K. Aivazovsky. About the artist’s skill [Text] / Nikolai Stepanovich Barsamov.- M.: Art, 1967.- 111 p.: ill.

Wagner, Lev I.K. Aivazovsky [Text] / Lev Wagner, Nadezhda Grigorovich.- M.: Art, 1970 .- 264 pp.: .- (Life in art)

Tkachenko, Sergey Railway history Feodosia [Electronic resource] / Sergey Tkachenko // Crimean blog [site].- Access mode: https://crimeanblog.blogspot.ru/2010/09/feodosiya-zheleznaya-doroga.html

Shevchenko, Tatyana Aivazovsky left thousands of paintings, a railway, a water supply system to Feodosia [Electronic resource] / Tatyana Shevchenko // Crimean blog [site]. - Access mode: https://crimeanblog.blogspot.ru/2014/04/ayvazovskiy.html ( 06/15/2017)

Veronica Kamornaya

E.G. - Dear Mr. Aivazovsky, some of your documents and letters are signed (until 1841) “Ivan Gaivazovsky.” The letters you wrote in Armenian to various figures of Armenia, including Catholicos Nerses and Gevork IV, were signed by Hovhannes or Hovhannes Aivazovsky. Why such a discrepancy? What is the correct way to call you?
I.A. - My elder brother Gabriel Ayvazyan, an archbishop, a prominent scientist and publicist, wrote that my father’s name used to be Kaitan Ayvaz. Having moved from Moldova to Russia, my father appropriated the name Konstantin-Gevork, and considered it necessary to change the surname Ayvaz, or Gayvaz (the Armenian letter h is translated into Russian as either “G” or “A”) into Gayvazovsky. This was how it was written until 1840, and then they began to write - Aivazovsky. Konstantin-Gevorg Aivazovsky is our father, who died in 1841. Mother is Hripsime Aivazovskaya. In letters in my native language, I always wrote my name Hovhannes or Oganes (translated from Armenian into Russian - Ivan). And the last name is Aivazovsky or Ayvazyan. In official documents and among Russians, I sign my name as Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky.

E.G. - How do you feel about religion?
I.A. - I profess the Armenian-Gregorian faith.

E.G. - Dear Ivan Konstantinovich, please forgive me for my tactlessness, but your personal life is also overgrown with legends. To avoid any misunderstandings, please tell us about it yourself.
I.A. - In 1848 I married an Englishwoman, Julia Graves. We met in St. Petersburg, in a rich house, where I was invited for the evening and where Yulia served as a governess. Julia was beautiful, educated, and had a keen sense of art. We got married very soon. We got married in an Armenian church, with the condition that our children would also be baptized in an Armenian church.

The marriage, however, turned out to be unhappy: with a painfully irritable character and vanity, my wife developed a mania for complaining and slandering me. This has gotten worse over the years. In numerous petitions, she slandered me: she said that I did not provide for her and her daughters. She even wrote to the king. Our friends tried to reconcile us, but Yulia continued to slander me and at the same time argued that it was impossible to dissolve the marriage according to the rules of the Armenian church. So she tried to gain power over me, force me to move to St. Petersburg, tear me away from Feodosia, where I worked and lived well. The growing dissimilarity of tastes, habits, and worldviews has become unbearable. In the 12th year married life we broke up. Julia left with our four daughters and only occasionally allowed them to visit me. Although later Zhanna, my youngest daughter, lived with me with her family.

E.G. - Was your marriage dissolved immediately?
I.A. - I was forced to appeal to the Etchmiadzin Synod with a petition for divorce. In 1877 the marriage was dissolved. Conscious, however, of my duty to provide for the existence of my daughters and wife, I gave her real estate in the Crimea, which brings in a rent of 1,500 rubles a year, and, in addition, I give her in cash monthly.

E.G. - Was your second marriage with the Armenian Anna Nikitichna (Mkrtychevna) Sarkisova (Sarkizova) happy?
I.A. - I got married for the second time quite late, in 1882.
But sometimes under the snow
Boiling water flows...
I had not previously met Anna Nikitichna, but I had heard a lot about her good name. There is so much natural tact, sensitivity, and warmth in this woman. She understands my art, although she has not read books about painting. Life has now become calm and happy.
I was very afraid to connect my life with a woman of another nation, so as not to shed tears. The Patriarch published on the pages of Constantinople newspapers thank you letter Etchmiadzin Catholicos for dissolving my first marriage, thanks to which I became closer to my nation.

E.G. - Ivan Konstantinovich, you have been writing since childhood, and since 1838 - constantly. Your paintings are in London (about 30), in Berlin (about 13) and other cities in Europe, in Russia there are a lot, in Armenia. They say that you never paint from life. This is true?
I.A. - I think that a painter who only copies nature becomes its slave. A person who is not gifted with a memory that preserves the impressions of living nature can be an excellent copyist, a living photographic apparatus, but never a true artist. The movements of living elements are elusive to the brush: painting lightning, a gust of wind, a splash of water is unthinkable from life. My imagination is stronger than the receptivity of actual impressions.

E.G. - Do you work quickly? How long does it take to create a painting?
I.A. - I work quickly. I definitely paint air within one morning, no matter how big the picture may be. This requires mixing paints. Thus, sometimes you have to stay focused on the painting from six in the morning until four in the afternoon.

E.G. - There are viewers for whom some of your paintings leave the impression of incompleteness. To correctly “read” your thought in a painting, what is the best way to look at it?
I.A. - If the viewer stands in front of a picture, for example, “Moonlit Night” and pays the main attention to the moon, and to its other parts, let’s say, in passing, and on top of that, he will not forget that this is a night that deprives us of all kinds of reflections, he will find that the picture is more complete than it should be.

E.G. - Which of your paintings do you consider the best?
I.A. - Positively, there is something successful in each, but I cannot choose between all my works. They don't satisfy me at all. Although my works are distinguished by the power of light, those in which the main force is the power of the sun, the moon, as well as the waves and foam of the sea should be considered the best.

E.G. - Ivan Konstantinovich, you considered it your duty to thank everyone who benefited our people in difficult years his stories were sent large amounts to help Armenian refugees, they sheltered many Armenian families on their estate near Feodosia. Have you painted paintings on themes from your historical homeland?
I.A. - In 1895, I wrote “The Massacre of the Armenians in Trebizond”, “The Turks throw the Armenians into the Sea of ​​Marmara”, then “Catholicos Khrimyan Hayrik in the vicinity of Etchmiadzin”, “The Valley of Mount Ararat”, “The Baptism of the Armenian People” and many others. etc. I corresponded with Catholicos Nerses about the harmful activities of the Jesuits (1846). I received an invitation from Catholicos Gevork IV to visit Etchmiadzin, and Catholicos Khrimyan spent three days in Feodosia and the same amount on my estate. I gave him the painting “The Creation of the World” for Etchmiadzin.

E.G. - Were you familiar with other figures of Armenian culture?
I.A. - The great tragedian Petros Adamyan visited my house and painted my portrait. I even played music with the composer Alexander Spendiarov - I played the violin. Artists Gevorg Bashinjagyan, V. Makhokhbyan, M. Jivani and others visited my house. And my daughter, Zhanna, whose voice was appreciated by Verdi, sang.

E.G. - Ivan Konstantinovich, in Feodosia even today they remember with gratitude all your good deeds, but they speak especially warmly about the gallery you donated to the city and the water supply. Until now, the water from your tap is considered the most delicious and clean.
I.A. - On August 30, 1888, water was already in the city, the distance was 26 miles. Agree that in one year is quite fast. We, through the Minister of Internal Affairs, asked the Emperor to name the fountain after him, but Plehve said in a telegram that His Majesty ordered the fountain to be named after me.

E.G. - Dear maestro! And finally the last question -
"... The poet became the subject of my thoughts." Is this about Pushkin?
I.A. - Yes. In my youth, three months before his death, Alexander Sergeevich and his beautiful wife came to an exhibition at the Academy of Arts, where I studied. I, who was then receiving a gold medal, was introduced to him. Pushkin greeted me kindly and looked at my paintings. Having learned that I was a southerner, he asked if I was sick in the north. Since then, the poet has become the subject of my thoughts and inspiration. Over the course of my long life, I wrote many paintings and drawings dedicated to the poet. Now, in my declining years, I am working on a new huge canvas. The plot is the same great inspirer of artists - Pushkin. I realized that I should not embody a portrait of a poet: my purpose is to embody the sea in Pushkin’s way. This will be the image of the poet.

We are talking about the painting “Among the Waves”. It was written in ten days. And the master went to her all his life. “Among the Waves” is Marina’s masterpiece and the best monument to the poet.

Answers by I.K. Aivazovsky are taken from the collection "Aivazovsky. Documents and Materials" (Yerevan. "Hayastan". 1967) and "Aivazovsky" (L. Wagner, N. Grigorovich. Series "ZhVI". Moscow, 1970.
Aivazovsky... is a star of the first magnitude... and not only here, but in the history of art in general.
I. N. Kramskoy

The publication was prepared by Emma Hakobyan-Gasparyan