Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky SUNSET OVER YALTA

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Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky
1817-1900
SUNSET OVER YALTA
signed in Cyrillic and dated 1861 l.l.
oil on canvas
67 by 89cm, 26 1/4 by 35in 
Throughout his life, Aivazovsky turned frequently to his beloved Crimea for inspiration. Whether depicting the coastline in the intense midday heat, or bathed in the rose-pink rays of the setting sun, as in the offered view, these compositions are testament to the artist's unrivalled mastery of the depiction of light on water and the importance of sunlight in his canvases. As Aivazovsky himself commented, 'the paintings whose principal effect comes from the sunlight should be considered my best' (the artist quoted in Sh.Khachatourian, Aivazovsky, The Poetry of the Sea, Paris: Thalia Edition, 2007, p.32).
In the offered lot, the stillness of the early evening is palpable. Aivazovsky frames the elegant sweep of the bay with the majestic silhouettes of the cypresses in the foreground, whose rich green hues contrast with the translucent pastel colours of the mountains beyond. Aivazovsky revelled in the subtle differences of various light effects on the same landscape. Crimean View, Ayu Dag (1865, The National Gallery of Armenia) depicts the same stretch of coastline in the darker and cooler shadows cast by a sunset closer to the horizon.
To be included in the forthcoming catalogue of the works by Ivan Aivazovsky being prepared by Gianni Caffiero and Ivan Samarine.


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