Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky

A gift from industrialist and art collector James Fredrik Dickson (1844-1898) to his daughter, Countess Blanche Bonde of Sweden (1865-1960)
Thence by descent to Count Thure Bonde (1908-1998)
Private Collection, Europe, 1976
Sotheby's London, The Russian Sale, 31 May 2006, lot 19
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

The canvas has been strip-lined. There are abrasions along the edges and some remains of gold paint. There are a few lines of craquelure in places. The paint surface is slightly thin in places and the vertical weaves of the canvas is evident, notably in the central section of the picture. Inspection under UV light shows retouching to a repaired tear to the right edge just above the horizon, which corresponds to a patch visible on the reverse.The painting is otherwise clean and in good condition. Held in gold painted wooden 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."

The original owner of the present lot, James Frederick Dickson, was a renowned Swedish industrialist and merchant. He and his wife, Blanche Dickson, lived on the Tjolöholm estate in Sweden, in an art nouveau-inspired castle which they designed and completed in 1904 to house their family and their growing art collection (fig. 3).

Dickson gifted Shipwreck Off the Black Sea Coast to his daughter Blanche and her husband, Count Carl Bonde (fig.2). The young couple lived together at the Tjolöholm castle until 1920, and Blanche continued to spend her summers at the estate until 1951. After her death, the painting was inherited by the pair’s youngest child, Count Thure Bonde. This masterwork would have therefore hung in the halls of the Tjolöholm castle throughout the first half of the 20^th century.

Shipwreck Off the Black Sea Coast was painted in 1887, only two years before Aivazovsky executed his 3 by 5 metre masterpiece The Wave (fig.1). The brilliant translucence of the waves, the greenish tint to the water and the heavier, almost sculptural brushstrokes that build up the rocks and the sky are typical of these large-scale works. Aivazovsky’s shipwrecks are practically Biblical in their scope, with nature at its most unforgiving and man at his most helpless. His shipwrecked survivors are the ‘unhappy creatures, storm-tossed, disconsolate’ of Isaiah, and no doubt it is the drama of these colossal canvases that appealed so directly to a public primed by the Romantic sensibilities of the age.  

The present work is included in the numbered archive of the artist’s work compiled by Gianni Caffiero and Ivan Samarine.