Ivan
Aivazovsky was born in the family of a merchant of Armenian
origin in the town of Feodosia, Crimea. His most famous paintings
are The Ninth Wave (1853), Moonlit Night (1849), The Sea. Koktebel. (1853) and
Storm of the Black Sea (1854).
The process, which determined the development of Russian art
in the second half of the 19th century, also affected Aivazovsky. A new
and consistently realistic tendency appeared in his work, although the
romantic features still remained.
The artist's greatest achievement of this period is The Black Sea (1881),
a picture showing the nature of the sea, eternally alive, always in
motion. Other important pictures of the late years are The Rainbow (1873),
Shipwreck (1876), The Billow (1889), The Mary Caught in a Storm (1892).
Aivazovsky
left more than 6000 pictures, which are of very different value.
Aivazovsky got good commissions and became rich. He spent much money for
charity, especially for his native town, he opened in Feodosia the first
School of Arts (in 1865), then the Art Gallery (in 1889). He was a member
of Academies of Stuttgart, Florence, Rome and Amsterdam.
