Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, 1817-1900

Collection of a Princely Family, Germany
Acquired by the current owner from the above in the 1940s

The following condition report has been supplied by: Hamish Dewar Ltd, Fine Art Conservation, 14 Mason's Yard, Duke Street St James's, London SW1Y 6BU tel + 44 (0)20 7930 4004, fax + 44 (0)20 7930 4100, hamish@hamishdewar.co.uk www.hamishdewar.co.uk The canvas is unlined and is providing a secure and sound structural support. The vertical stretcher bar lines are just visible but are stable and not visible distracting. The paint surface has an even varnish layer and inspection under UV light shows just a few small scattered spots and lines of inpainting, the majority of which are just very minor dots and lines. The only significant retouchings are along the upper horizontal framing edge and a thin crescent shape line just beneath the boat in the lower left of the composition which is approximately 5cm in length. The painting is therefore in good and stable condition and no further work is required.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The comparison of Aivazovsky to J.M.W.Turner (1775-1851) is perhaps an inevitable one given that both artists painted Romantic seascapes and even met early in the Russian artist's career. Like Turner, Aivazovsky infused topography with a narrative expressiveness through unusual and dramatic light effects; both worked from memory rather than from nature, such that the balance of imagination and reality was always a precarious one. As Aivazovsky said, "A painter who copies nature becomes a slave to it, bound by hand and feet. A man without the gift of memory, gathering his impressions of living nature, can be an excellent copyist, a living photographic camera, but a genuine artist - never". In many cases, the comparison between the two artists does not extend beyond the obvious shared subject matter, but the relatively abstract nature of this work cannot fail to recall the mass of broken colouring so characteristic of Turner's later oeuvre (fig.1) rather than the meticulous detail of the monochrome Dutch seascapes in the Imperial collection which once inspired him. A feeble tinge of scarlet balances the central drama of lightning and the range of tones between the dark thunderclouds and dazzling white areas fulfils Ruskin's definition of breadth, that 'in less than a square inch in every spot of nature, no two tints are of a similar strength and colour. It is then by the subtle union of such a mass and variety of tints that true breadth only can be given'. Although in his sixties, Aivazovsky held no less than thirty four individual exhibitions from 1880 to 1888 and with this picture proves that he had lost none of his skill in depicting the fragility and transience of humanity.