Exhibition of paintings by Ivan Aivazovsky in the Tretyakov Gallery. photo

An exciting journey to the sea, its mysterious depths and waves caressed by a wayward breeze, invites you to plunge into the incredible, mind-blowing world of Aivazovsky.

The sea of ​​Ivan Konstantinovich in hundreds of canvases by the famous marine painter awaits Muscovites in the Tretyakov Gallery.

About the artist

Ivan Aivazovsky is a true pioneer of the marine genre in Russian art. Thanks to the master's works, the marina, or seascape, occupied an important place in the history of fine art of the 19th century.

Aivazovsky's long life path is marked by creative ups and downs, recognition and rejection of his skill. Ivan Konstantinovich took his first steps as an artist while under the influence of German idealism. The philosophy and ideas of the then popular deep romanticism did not influence his opinion and preferences, to which the master remained faithful despite general opinion.

Fashion trends and changes in aesthetic doctrines also did not deviate Aivazovsky from his chosen direction, so in the middle of the century his work was not appreciated.

By the end of the century, the works of Ivan Konstantinovich acquired relevance and brought well-deserved fame to the author. Aivazovsky is actively studying Russian culture, expanding his circle of contacts, and adopting the experience of famous artists.

The young Armenian artist from the provincial Feodosia coast felt and was deeply imbued with Russian creativity, and became a prominent representative of the unique culture.

You can get in touch with the incredible and fascinating world of the artist by finding out where the Aivazovsky exhibition is taking place.

The creative path of the master

During his lifetime, Ivan Konstantinovich organized and presented more than 60 personal exhibitions. His paintings decorated over 120 exhibition halls.

The artist’s work was appreciated by fans in Russia, many European countries and America.

An honorary member of many art academies, including Amsterdam, Paris, Florence and others, Aivazovsky enjoyed particular success at the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts, where he had the title of academician and later professor of painting.

The Main Naval Staff in 1844 appointed Ivan Konstantinovich as staff artist. The master’s work has been awarded honorary orders from many countries, including Russia, France, Turkey and others.

Titanic efforts in work, the reward for which was lifetime recognition of the artist’s talent and skill, gave the world unique canvases that contain Aivazovsky’s whole world. But reviews from critics, who consider the painter’s paintings to be salon commercial works that do not correspond to the dynamics of the new century, protected the paintings from large exhibitions and fundamental art historical research for many decades.

You can take a fresh look at the painter’s unique work by first finding out where the Aivazovsky exhibition will be held.

Exhibition location

The State Tretyakov Gallery invites fans of the artist’s work to take an exciting journey to the sea and discover new facets of the artist’s works.

The official website provides information about where the Aivazovsky exhibition is taking place in Moscow. The address of the exhibition venue is 10.

The Tretyakov Gallery invites you to evaluate the artist’s paintings with a fresh look, change your attitude towards his enormous contribution to Russian art, reject the snobbish theories of professional critics and see, hidden behind the sensual emotional romanticism, the symbolic meaning of the works of the world famous painter.

Description of the exhibition

The large-scale event, presented by the organizers as a monographic presentation of the artist’s works, does not aim to unite as many paintings as possible under the roof of the Tretyakov Gallery, where an exhibition of Aivazovsky’s paintings is taking place.

The goal is to present and characterize the artist's unique creativity with the most significant and high-quality works.

According to the author's certificate, the master's property includes 6,000 paintings. Professional art historians at the Tretyakov Gallery, where the Aivazovsky exhibition is taking place, made a careful selection of works, which included 120 paintings.

Most of the painting masterpieces came from St. Petersburg and were provided by the Russian and Central Naval Museums, the country palaces of Peterhof, Tsarskoe Selo and Pavlovsk, as well as numerous regional and foreign museums.

The Tretyakov Gallery, where the Aivazovsky exhibition is taking place, presents 33 paintings and 9 drawings by the world famous marine painter.

Characteristics of the exhibition structure

Marine, battle and graphic genres in the work of the eminent master can be traced in zigzag courses, opening up to fans and connoisseurs, section by section, a unique exhibition built taking into account the themes and motifs of the works.

The Tretyakov Gallery, where the Aivazovsky exhibition is taking place, opens a large-scale atmospheric presentation of the master’s unique paintings, built according to a unique architecture, which allows you to discover from section to section all the versatility, emotionality and symbolism of the painter’s work.

Description of sections

The Tretyakov Gallery presents sections of the exhibition:

• “Sea Symphonies”, uniting the variety of the artist’s changeable marinas: from complete calm to a raging hurricane with a play of color, light and movement.
• "Artist of the Main Naval Staff" with a number of canvases made according to imperial and departmental orders, with landscape and battle scenes.
• "Between Feodosia and St. Petersburg", representing land landscapes.
• “The whole world was small for him,” uniting canvases created based on impressions from Aivazovsky’s numerous travels.
• "Captured by the mystery of the universe" with a collection of biblical stories.
• a documentary section that collected portraits of the painter’s relatives, photos and archival data illustrating his biography.

Exhibition highlights

The halls on Krymsky Val, where the Aivazovsky exhibition is taking place in Moscow, present a unique exhibition of paintings, the accents of which are the most significant works of the author, among them:

• "Rainbow" 1873.
• "Black Sea" (1881).
• "The Ninth Wave" (1850).
• "The Wave" (1889).

This is the first experience of a large-scale, integral and dense presentation of Aivazovsky’s drawings (demonstration of 55 sheets).

The opening of the exhibition is the restored large work “Off the Coast of the Caucasus” from 1885.

With the help of additional exhibits taken from the ship collection of the Central Naval Museum, the organizers managed to recreate the atmosphere of Aivazovsky’s sea world.

The artist’s emotional, beautiful, deep and symbolic paintings, distinguished by their sophisticated technique and virtuosic craftsmanship, can be appreciated at the Tretyakov Gallery.

The address where the Aivazovsky exhibition is taking place is indicated in this material.

Despite the dead summer season in Moscow, there are long queues in front of the Tretyakov Gallery on Krymsky Val, where an exhibition of the artist Ivan Aivazovsky is taking place. 2 thousand people buy tickets every day!

In 2017, Russia will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the great artist Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (07/29/1817 - 05/02/1900). In honor of this event, the largest exhibition of the master’s works opened in the Tretyakov Gallery building on Krymsky Val on July 29, 2016. 33 paintings and nine drawings came to the exhibition from the Tretyakov Gallery’s storerooms. For the current exhibition, the best works from 17 museums and six private collections were brought to Moscow, because most of the paintings are in St. Petersburg: in the Russian Museum, the Central Naval Museum, in country palaces (Peterhof, Pavlovsk, Tsarskoe Selo), the rest are dispersed in regional museums in Russia and other countries.

All tickets for the coming days are sold out, so I invite you, friends, to a virtual walk through the exhibition, which will last until November 20, 2016.

The architecture of the exhibition, befitting the nautical theme, is designed in “tacks”: the viewer can follow zigzag courses from section to section, where examples of the work of Aivazovsky as a marine painter, battle painter, and graphic artist are presented. The exhibition is organized according to themes and motifs.

The section "Sea Symphonies" presents the main states of Aivazovsky's marinas - from calm to hurricane: the sea is calm, stormy, in different lighting.

The section “Artist of the Main Naval Staff” includes views of Russian coastal cities and ports, commissioned by the Emperor and the Naval Department, and images of the main naval battles of the Russian fleet. The section “Between Feodosia and St. Petersburg” presents Aivazovsky’s “land” landscapes.

The section “The whole world was too small for him” brings together the artist’s paintings based on his travels to the Caucasus, Italy, Turkey and other countries.

The section “Captured by the Mystery of the Universe” displays paintings based on biblical subjects. The main emphasis in the exhibition is on the artist’s most significant paintings, such as “Rainbow” (1873), “Black Sea (A storm begins to break out on the Black Sea)” (1881, both - Tretyakov Gallery), “The Ninth Wave” (1850) and the largest work at the exhibition "Wave" (1889, both - State Russian Museum). For the first time, Aivazovsky’s drawings are shown so completely and completely—55 sheets.

The sea has always fascinated and delighted people with its incredible, enchanting beauty. Of course, it attracted many artists. Painters and masters of landscapes were inspired by beautiful sea views and transferred their emotions from what they saw to canvases.

Born in Feodosia, into a poor Armenian family, Ivan Konstantinovich always had a keen sense of the sea. While studying at the Academy of Arts and visiting many European countries, the artist worked under the influence of French classicism.

Aivazovsky easily conveys to the viewer the “mood” of sea waters: their duality, silence or fury. His paintings are simply enchanting, creating the illusion of immersion in the depths of the sea, his landscapes capturing sunrises and sunsets at sea are simply grandiose.

Aivazovsky was loved by the public, critics, and even the imperial family. He wrote for the St. Petersburg Maritime Department to order (as a photojournalist). In 1864, Alexander II awarded the artist a noble title with the right of inheritance.

During his life, Aivazovsky participated in more than 120 exhibitions, over 60 of which were personal. They opened both in Russia and in many cities in Europe and America.

Aivazovsky became an honorary member of the Amsterdam, Rome, Florence, Stuttgart, and Paris academies of arts. The Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg recognized him as an academician and then as a professor of painting.

The artist lived a life of almost a century. The loud fame during his lifetime, the great number of canvases he created thanks to his titanic efficiency, played a cruel joke on the artist.

The public never ceased to love Aivazovsky, but critics, fed up with his works, turned away from the artist as “outdated” and not meeting the demands of the dynamic twentieth century, labeling his works as “salon and commercial.”

As a consequence, there has been a lack of large-scale exhibitions and fundamental research into the artist’s work for many decades. The Tretyakov Gallery decided to look at Aivazovsky in a new way and change the attitude towards his legacy, open up new meanings in his works to fans, and reduce snobbery in the professional community’s attitude towards him.

The surprise of the project is that at the entrance to the exhibition, viewers are greeted by a video installation by contemporary artists of the Blue Soup group, which creates a “presence effect” in the waters of the Black Sea. Aivazovsky's works attract the viewer with their emotionality, beauty of painting, virtuosity and sophistication of technical skill. His art contains themes that have been interpreted by many generations of artists and viewers: an interest in conveying endless, limitless space, the feeling of a person in the face of the elements. The master builds the composition of the works in such a way that a special magic is created: the viewer looks at the seascape through the eyes of the artist as if from inside the picture, feels immersed in the image, experiences the emotions of a participant in the action, which is akin to the modern 3D effect.

Aivazovsky will appear at the exhibition as an artist not only of sincere feelings and romantic emotions, but also of deep ideas and symbolic generalizations. He is recognized as a correspondent interlocutor with the Catholicos of Armenia, a visionary who foresaw the cataclysms of the next century.

The great artist created about 6 thousand paintings. The exhibition presents about 100 paintings and 50 graphic sheets.

The best examples of Aivazovsky’s creativity as a marine painter, battle painter, and graphic artist.

The exhibition brings together four of the artist’s most significant paintings: “Rainbow” (1873), “Black Sea” (1881), “The Ninth Wave” (1850) and “Wave” (1889).

For the first time, viewers will see a never before exhibited large-scale painting “Off the Coast of the Caucasus” (1885).

In addition, the documentary section will introduce Aivazovsky the philanthropist, the first honorary citizen of Feodosia.

The exhibition also included models of ships, compasses, a globe, and telescopes.

Few people know that Aivazovsky had another talent - musical. He taught himself to play the violin, and his improvisations were appreciated by the great Glinka. “The composer liked the melodies that Aivazovsky played so much that he used them in his opera Ruslan and Lyudmila,” says exhibition curator Galina Churak.

The video shows the viewer the last seconds of the life of the great marine painter. He died at 83 while painting “The Explosion of a Turkish Ship.” It would seem a tragic moment, but all the frames are filled with light and calm, and as a soundtrack, a pleasant male voice leisurely reads Fyodor Tyutchev’s poem “You are my wave of the sea.”

The most important quality of Aivazovsky’s paintings, which captivates the viewer, is that they always convey an optimistic attitude and faith in a positive outcome of tragic events. Even in paintings depicting the most formidable and destructive sea storms, the artist, with a ray of light from the clouds, a rainbow, a flying bird or other detail, gives dying ships and people hope for salvation.

I can’t believe that the artist worked in a studio whose windows faced the courtyard rather than the sea. He wrote all the storms, thunderstorms and raging waves from memory....

https://regnum.ru/news/cultura/2154341.html and http://www.tretyakovgallery.ru/ru/calendar/exhibitions/exhibitions6134/

All paintings by the artist: http://artcyclopedia.ru/ajvazovskij_ivan_konstantinovich.htm

During his lifetime, Ivan Aivazovsky had more than a hundred personal exhibitions. At the same time, his retrospective within the walls of the Tretyakov Gallery became the first in history. 120 paintings by the artist were brought to the halls of the museum on Krymsky Val, which were selected from 16 museums and a number of private collections. The organizers timed the large-scale exhibition to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the artist’s birth, but they just started celebrating ahead of time. Ivan Aivazovsky was born on July 29, 1817, but the calendar anniversary was given to the main repository of his works - Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. But because Tretyakov Gallery presented a retrospective of Aivazovsky exactly a year before the celebrations, its scale does not fade at all.

Guides Tretyakov Gallery, starting the story about Aivazovsky, they clarify that he painted not only the sea. His rich heritage (and the artist himself claimed that he painted more than 6 thousand paintings) included steppes, plot sketches, and even portraits. But still, for Russian painting, it was he who discovered the genre of seascape, which he then turned into the most important phenomenon in the fine arts of the 19th century.

Success came to Aivazovsky early. In 1840, the 23-year-old artist traveled to Italy and painted a picture there "Chaos", which Pope Gregory XVI himself wanted to purchase. Aivazovsky presented the pontiff with a painting, which then ended up on permanent display Vatican Museum. Gogol then jokingly told the artist: “Your "Chaos" created chaos in the Vatican."

Opinions of contemporaries about Aivazovsky varied. The authorities highly valued his work, and Nicholas I even called the artist “king of the sea.” The painter responded to the authorities with respect, over which his friend Ivan Kramskoy was touched. Realist artists reproached Aivazovsky for his passion for external effects, and Anton Chekhov feuilletonously described the general’s manners of the already aging master. But Aivazovsky didn’t care much about all this. He was an extremely successful painter and even, as they would say today, a businessman.

The artist painted large-scale canvases, worked on expensive orders, but at the same time produced mass and even souvenir products, which those who wanted to have a “piece of Aivazovsky” could purchase for little money. Thanks to all this, the artist had no shortage of funds. He painted on ideal sugar bases, with the best brushes and expensive paints. He also did it solely from memory, never depicting the sea from life.

Installation of the picture "The Ninth Wave" I.K. Aivazovsky

Yuri Belinsky | TASS

Seas in the halls Tretyakov Gallery there will be plenty in the next four months. The viewer will be overwhelmed "World creation"(1864) and textbook "The Ninth Wave"(1850), but they will calm down "Moonlit Night in Crimea"(1859) And "Coast in Amalfi"(1841). Some of the paintings presented at the exhibition are so large in size that those standing next to them actually get the impression that water is about to pour over the edge of the painting.

Answering the question whether to expect records from Aivazovsky, director Tretyakov Gallery Zelfira Tregulova replied that the attendance at the last exhibition of Valentin Serov is unlikely to be exceeded. “The exhibition of Valentin Serov was visited by 485 thousand people in three months and three weeks. This is an absolute record for any exhibition of a Russian artist in our country,” Tregulova said. “Here, if we talk about our forecasts, we expect somewhere up to three hundred thousand people.” This time the museum decided to play it safe in order to avoid queues and crowds at the entrance. For this purpose, pre-sale of tickets was opened even before the start of the exhibition, and all visits will be divided into sessions.

In keeping with the good tradition of supporting important cultural events, one of the iconic symbols of Armenia, the Ararat Cognac House, acted as a partner for the grand opening of the exhibition and prepared a special cocktail bar for guests with drinks based on the famous cognac.

In Moscow, from July 29 to November 20, the Tretyakov Gallery on Krymsky Val will host an exhibition of the best works of Ivan Aivazovsky. The large-scale exhibition will be dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the painter’s birth.

“Out of the huge number of works he created, according to Aivazovsky himself, about 6,000, the exhibition will feature about 100 paintings and 50 graphic sheets. Curatorial selection will allow viewers to see the best examples of creativity. Four of the artist’s most significant paintings will be displayed together: “Rainbow” (1873), “Black Sea” (1881), “The Ninth Wave” (1850) and “Wave” (1889). For the first time, viewers will see a never-before-exhibited large-scale painting “Off the Coast of the Caucasus” from the storerooms of the State Tretyakov Gallery,” the museum’s official website reports.

To create a unique exhibition, 51 works by Aivazovsky will be delivered to Moscow from the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. They will be joined by paintings from Tsarskoe Selo, Peterhof and the Naval Museum.

How much will a ticket to the exhibition cost?

The Tretyakov Gallery reported that in connection with the opening of the Aivazovsky exhibition they do not plan to increase ticket prices. Thus, an adult ticket will cost 400 rubles, for students, pensioners, heroes of the USSR and the Russian Federation - 150 rubles, and children under 18 years of age will be able to enter the exhibition for free.

“For the first time, we introduced online sales of tickets for the exhibition before the opening of the exhibition itself - tickets can be bought right now on our website. For the first time, we introduced a system for selling tickets to shows. We will have from 13 to 19 sessions per day. Sessions at 30 minute intervals. Another innovation is that if previously, when selling electronic tickets, people stood in line at the terminal to exchange the electronic ticket for a regular paper one, now there is no such need - people can print the ticket at home,” said director of the Tretyakov Gallery Zelfira Tregulova.

Days of free visits to the museum

Every Wednesday, admission to the permanent exhibition “Art of the 20th Century” and temporary exhibitions in (Krymsky Val, 10) is free for visitors without a guided tour (except for the project “Avant-garde in three dimensions: Goncharova and Malevich”).

The right to free access to exhibitions in the main building on Lavrushinsky Lane, the Engineering Building, the New Tretyakov Gallery, the house-museum of V.M. Vasnetsov, museum-apartment of A.M. Vasnetsova is provided on the following days for certain categories of citizens first come first serve basis:

First and second Sunday of every month:

for students of higher educational institutions of the Russian Federation, regardless of the form of study (including foreign citizens-students of Russian universities, graduate students, adjuncts, residents, assistant trainees) upon presentation of a student card (does not apply to persons presenting student cards “student-trainee” );

for students of secondary and secondary specialized educational institutions (from 18 years old) (citizens of Russia and CIS countries). Students holding ISIC cards on the first and second Sunday of each month have the right to free admission to the “Art of the 20th Century” exhibition at the New Tretyakov Gallery.

every Saturday - for members of large families (citizens of Russia and CIS countries).

Please note that conditions for free admission to temporary exhibitions may vary. Check the exhibition pages for more information.

Attention! At the Gallery's box office, entrance tickets are provided at a nominal value of “free” (upon presentation of the appropriate documents - for the above-mentioned visitors). In this case, all services of the Gallery, including excursion services, are paid in accordance with the established procedure.

Visiting the museum on holidays

Dear visitors!

Please pay attention to the opening hours of the Tretyakov Gallery on holidays. There is a fee to visit.

Please note that entry with electronic tickets is on a first-come, first-served basis. You can familiarize yourself with the rules for returning electronic tickets at.

Congratulations on the upcoming holiday and we are waiting for you in the halls of the Tretyakov Gallery!

The right to preferential visits The Gallery, except in cases provided for by a separate order of the Gallery management, is provided upon presentation of documents confirming the right to preferential visits to:

• pensioners (citizens of Russia and CIS countries),
• full holders of the Order of Glory,
• students of secondary and secondary specialized educational institutions (from 18 years old),
• students of higher educational institutions of Russia, as well as foreign students studying at Russian universities (except for intern students),
• members of large families (citizens of Russia and CIS countries).

Free visit right The main and temporary exhibitions of the Gallery, except in cases provided for by a separate order of the Gallery’s management, are provided to the following categories of citizens upon presentation of documents confirming the right of free admission:

• persons under 18 years of age;
• students of faculties specializing in the field of fine arts at secondary specialized and higher educational institutions in Russia, regardless of the form of study (as well as foreign students studying at Russian universities). The clause does not apply to persons presenting student cards of “trainee students” (if there is no information about the faculty on the student card, a certificate from the educational institution must be presented with the obligatory indication of the faculty);
• veterans and disabled people of the Great Patriotic War, combatants, former minor prisoners of concentration camps, ghettos and other places of forced detention created by the Nazis and their allies during the Second World War, illegally repressed and rehabilitated citizens (citizens of Russia and the CIS countries);
• conscripts of the Russian Federation;
• Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of the Russian Federation, Full Knights of the Order of Glory (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• disabled people of groups I and II, participants in the liquidation of the consequences of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• one accompanying disabled person of group I (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• one accompanying disabled child (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• artists, architects, designers - members of the relevant creative Unions of Russia and its constituent entities, art critics - members of the Association of Art Critics of Russia and its constituent entities, members and employees of the Russian Academy of Arts;
• members of the International Council of Museums (ICOM);
• employees of museums of the system of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the relevant Departments of Culture, employees of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and ministries of culture of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
• museum volunteers - entrance to the exhibition “Art of the 20th Century” (Krymsky Val, 10) and to the Museum-Apartment of A.M. Vasnetsova (citizens of Russia);
• guides-translators who have an accreditation card of the Association of Guides-Translators and Tour Managers of Russia, including those accompanying a group of foreign tourists;
• one teacher of an educational institution and one accompanying a group of students from secondary and secondary specialized educational institutions (with an excursion voucher or subscription); one teacher of an educational institution that has state accreditation of educational activities when conducting an agreed training session and has a special badge (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• one accompanying a group of students or a group of conscripts (if they have an excursion package, subscription and during a training session) (Russian citizens).

Visitors to the above categories of citizens receive a “Free” entrance ticket.

Please note that the conditions for discounted admission to temporary exhibitions may vary. Check the exhibition pages for more information.