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Theodosius. Sunset
Ivan Aivazovsky • Painting, 1865, 97×126 cm
Description of the artwork «Theodosius. Sunset»
In the National Art Gallery of Armenia, the second largest - after the Feodosia Gallery - collection of works by Aivazovsky: 62 works. Of course, among them there are pictures of the most famous Armenian artist on topics related to his historic homeland:“A visit by Byron to the Mkhitarists on the island of Sts. Lazarus in Venice (Mkhitarists is an Armenian Catholic monastic order, it was founded in 1712 by Mkhitar Sevastiysky, who fled from Turkish persecution and found the patronage of the Pope) "The Descent of Noah from Mount Ararat". And this canvas - “Theodosius. Sunset" - Devoted to the actual homeland and the main city in the life of the artist.
Aivazovsky was born in Feodosia. But then in his life there was a test of geographical temptations. He studied at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. He lived and worked in Italy - Rome, Naples, Sorrento, Venice. He arranged exhibitions of his paintings in Paris, London, Amsterdam. is he traveled all mip, even in America visited, looked at Niagara Falls. And yet one of his letters to Pavel Tretyakov ended with the words: “My address: always in Feodosia”.
Aivazovsky was only 28 years old when, having already seen and realized a lot of his talent, he decided to settle permanently in provincial Theodosia. Firstly, it is beautiful. Secondly, it is convenient. Theodosia smoothly delivers sea sunsets and moon lanes to the artist, and the artist can observe the nature straight from your balcony. It's warm here. And to the other Crimean beauty at hand.
But it seems that this is not the only thing. Aivazovsky did not consider modesty a virtue. He enjoyed his success. Contemporaries noted his vanity, the generals' manners, and Chekhov, who once visited Aivazovsky in Feodosia, spoke of him as “Mix good-natured armies with a jailed bishop” - non-politically correct in our times, but the fact remains. In Petersburg, Aivazovsky would have been one of the celebrities, but to Theodosius, he filled the whole with him. Here he reigned.
Here is what the poet and collector Alexander Zhirkevich wrote about the place Aivazovsky occupied in his hometown: “Everywhere on the lips is the name of Aivazovsky: in a hotel, in shops, and one must admit that he is praised as a kind, good person in general, and in particular, as benefactor of Theodosia, but why did he just smear your name on the icon, so much so that it can be read from the middle of the church? " Railway, plumbing, concert hall, library, art gallery - Aivazovsky put his hand to the appearance of all this in Feodosia. So it is quite natural that when an artist appeared in public places, people whispered: “To the road, the road to his excellency!” (Emperor Nicholas II granted Aivazovsky the rank of real secret adviser, therefore this appeal is justified).
As during the life of Aivazovsky, and now the main sights of Feodosia are Aivazovsky himself and the tower of St. Constantine, which we can see on the modern emblem of the city and on the picture considered here.
This tower is repeatedly depicted by Aivazovsky on his canvases and drawings with views of Theodosius (1, 2, 3, 4). Other artists painted it - egAivazovsky's pupil Adolf Fessler.
The tower of St. Constantine - the medieval heritage of Theodosius. In 1266, Genoese merchants founded a city called Kafa on this territory. Cafu protected the fortress, which numbered about 30 towers, the tower from the picture is one of them: it was built at the end of the 14th century and preserved better than the others. Those who have been to Feodosia will notice a discrepancy: now the tower stands on land, in the park, and in the paintings of Aivazovsky - right next to the water: the coastline has shifted due to the development of the Feodosia port.
Despite the fact that viewers invariably admire the realistic nature of Aivazovsky’s paintings, his paintingsrelates to such an artistic direction as romanticism. Pictures, written in this style, over measure spectacular, emotional, sublime. If we are talking about a romantic landscape, the artist always prefers a calm to a storm, a bright sunset to a faded morning, and an exceptional to an everyday one. Favorite objects of landscape romantics - lonely trees, lighthouses and ... towers! The tower has everything that romantics loved - both exotic and mysterious, and elevation (including literal), and a grandiose background, next to which an individual and his fate seem like a grain of sand.
And Aivazovsky, as we found out, did not have to go for such a valuable object to distant lands - he observed the medieval Genoese tower every day just from his balcony.
The author: Natalia Kandaurova
Aivazovsky was born in Feodosia. But then in his life there was a test of geographical temptations. He studied at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. He lived and worked in Italy - Rome, Naples, Sorrento, Venice. He arranged exhibitions of his paintings in Paris, London, Amsterdam. is he traveled all mip, even in America visited, looked at Niagara Falls. And yet one of his letters to Pavel Tretyakov ended with the words: “My address: always in Feodosia”.
Aivazovsky was only 28 years old when, having already seen and realized a lot of his talent, he decided to settle permanently in provincial Theodosia. Firstly, it is beautiful. Secondly, it is convenient. Theodosia smoothly delivers sea sunsets and moon lanes to the artist, and the artist can observe the nature straight from your balcony. It's warm here. And to the other Crimean beauty at hand.
But it seems that this is not the only thing. Aivazovsky did not consider modesty a virtue. He enjoyed his success. Contemporaries noted his vanity, the generals' manners, and Chekhov, who once visited Aivazovsky in Feodosia, spoke of him as “Mix good-natured armies with a jailed bishop” - non-politically correct in our times, but the fact remains. In Petersburg, Aivazovsky would have been one of the celebrities, but to Theodosius, he filled the whole with him. Here he reigned.
Here is what the poet and collector Alexander Zhirkevich wrote about the place Aivazovsky occupied in his hometown: “Everywhere on the lips is the name of Aivazovsky: in a hotel, in shops, and one must admit that he is praised as a kind, good person in general, and in particular, as benefactor of Theodosia, but why did he just smear your name on the icon, so much so that it can be read from the middle of the church? " Railway, plumbing, concert hall, library, art gallery - Aivazovsky put his hand to the appearance of all this in Feodosia. So it is quite natural that when an artist appeared in public places, people whispered: “To the road, the road to his excellency!” (Emperor Nicholas II granted Aivazovsky the rank of real secret adviser, therefore this appeal is justified).
As during the life of Aivazovsky, and now the main sights of Feodosia are Aivazovsky himself and the tower of St. Constantine, which we can see on the modern emblem of the city and on the picture considered here.
This tower is repeatedly depicted by Aivazovsky on his canvases and drawings with views of Theodosius (1, 2, 3, 4). Other artists painted it - egAivazovsky's pupil Adolf Fessler.
The tower of St. Constantine - the medieval heritage of Theodosius. In 1266, Genoese merchants founded a city called Kafa on this territory. Cafu protected the fortress, which numbered about 30 towers, the tower from the picture is one of them: it was built at the end of the 14th century and preserved better than the others. Those who have been to Feodosia will notice a discrepancy: now the tower stands on land, in the park, and in the paintings of Aivazovsky - right next to the water: the coastline has shifted due to the development of the Feodosia port.
Despite the fact that viewers invariably admire the realistic nature of Aivazovsky’s paintings, his paintingsrelates to such an artistic direction as romanticism. Pictures, written in this style, over measure spectacular, emotional, sublime. If we are talking about a romantic landscape, the artist always prefers a calm to a storm, a bright sunset to a faded morning, and an exceptional to an everyday one. Favorite objects of landscape romantics - lonely trees, lighthouses and ... towers! The tower has everything that romantics loved - both exotic and mysterious, and elevation (including literal), and a grandiose background, next to which an individual and his fate seem like a grain of sand.
And Aivazovsky, as we found out, did not have to go for such a valuable object to distant lands - he observed the medieval Genoese tower every day just from his balcony.
The author: Natalia Kandaurova
