Lot 1
  • 1

Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky

Estimate
300,000 - 400,000 GBP
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Description

  • shipping off the Dutch coast
  • signed in Cyrillic and dated 1844 l.r.
  • oil on canvas
  • 55.5 by 83.7cm., 21 3/4 by 33in.

Condition

The canvas has been lined. There are fine lines of craquelure throughout and some very minor surface scratches in the lower left corner. UV light reveals spots of retouching scattered throughout the sky and further spots of retouching to the lower corners and a few others elsewhere. Held in a gold painted plaster frame. Unexamined out of frame.
"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."

Catalogue Note

Aivazovsky's visit to Holland came at a pivotal period in his early career.  The previous year he had staged a highly successful exhibition at the Louvre, and in 1844, as his tour of Europe drew to a close, he was named Academician by the Amsterdam Academy of Arts. On his return to Russia that year he would be awarded the title by the St Petersburg Academy of Arts and become inundated with commissions for paintings of Kronstadt, Revel, Sveaborg and other Baltic cities.

It is extremely unusual to find such an early accomplished piece on the market. Although he was only 27 years old, Aivazovsky's individual style was by now very much defined. With his characteristic flashes of red paint, Aivazovsky draws the viewer's eye from the struggling sailors in the foreground to the Dutch tricolour flying high on the mast and beyond. The dramatic and romantic content recall the influences of GĂ©ricault and Delacroix, whose reputations were built on monumental marine works. During his stay in Amsterdam, Aivazovsky would have certainly absorbed the techniques of Dutch landscape and maritime painters such as Van de Velde and Van Ruisdael, and indeed, this was one of his reasons for visiting Amsterdam and England, 'to see the sea and its artists'.

It is worth noting that after 1842 there is an element of psychological plausibility in Aivazovsky's survivor paintings, for in that year he was  caught in such a terrible storm in the Bay of Biscay that the ship was presumed wrecked and Aivazovsky's death was lamented in the Parisian press. A similar work painted in 1844 hangs in the National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan, though it lacks the defining features of the Dutch coastline.