Aivazovsky: Paintings

Ivan Aivazovsky was Russian-Armenian artist, world famous for his seascapes and regarded as one of the supreme seascape painters of all times. He painted a lot of portraits and landscapes but over half of all 6000 of Aivazovsky’s oil works are seascapes. His technique and imagination in depicting the sparkling play of light on the waves and sea foam is especially respected, and gives his works a romantic atmosphere and realistic excellence that resonances the paintings and watercolours of J. M. W. Turner. Especially effectual is his capacity to depict diffuse sunlight and moonlight, sometimes coming from behind clouds, sometimes coming through a fog, with almost transparent layers of paint. A series of paintings of naval battles brought his dramatic skills to the fore, with the flames of burning ships reflected in water and clouds.