Aivazovsky and money

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

In Soviet times, they taught that the "Decembrists" on Senate Square were the first revolutionaries who woke Herzen up so that he would beat the "Bell", enlighten the unreasonable people and call Russia to the ax. It was believed that the revolutionaries sought to make life in Russia comfortable and democratic, well-fed and rich.

Do you believe this? Do you believe that the Rockefellers, Rothschilds and Warburgs invested their hard-earned money into the prosperity of Russia? Where is the logic?

Let's plunge into the recent history of our country for a while and take a closer look at some famous personalities in a slightly different way than is usually accepted. Perhaps a closer look will highlight other aspects of their multifaceted activities.

In this article, I invite you to get to know a celebrity like the world famous marine painter Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovski. The whole world still admires his paintings, which depict the sea element, stopped for a moment by the hand of this great master.

It is known that Aivazovsky was one of the most prolific and wealthy artists of his (and not only his) time. What is the reason for his such celebrity and wealth? Is it only in his talent? Perhaps the reason for his success lies in the fact that he provided services, depicting in the paintings what his generous customers asked him to do? And who and what asked him - that's already interesting!

Some of you will be surprised and indignant at my assumption and, following the hero of A. P. Chekhov, exclaim: "This cannot be, because this can never be!" We are used to the fact that Aivazovsky is a singer of the sea and the victories of the Russian navy!

And yet, let's figure it out, however …

Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky was born in Feodosia (Crimea) in 1817, died there in 1900 (82 years old). He was the third son of a bankrupt merchant, and his entire childhood (as biographers write) was spent in need and hardship.

Since childhood, Ivan Aivazovsky was lucky to meet good people. Local city architect Ya. Kh. Kokh and the governor of Tavrida A. I. Kaznacheev helped to enter the Tavricheskaya gymnasium in Simferopol. And in 1833, influential noblemen of the capital contributed to his enrollment without examinations in the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg and training at the expense of the state treasury.

Aivazovsky's teachers were M. N. Vorobiev, F. Tanner and A. I. Zauerweid. After a conflict with the French painter F. Tanner in 1838, Ivan Aivazovsky was sent to his native Feodosia for two years to paint seascapes, "being under the special supervision of the Academy." In the same year, Aivazovsky took part in the naval campaign of a detachment of Russian ships under the command of Nikolai Raevsky to the shores of the Caucasus.

In 1840, Aivazovsky went to Europe to continue his studies, where he immediately became a famous artist. His painting "The Gulf of Naples" was highly appreciated by the English marine painter Joseph Turner, and the painting "Chaos" was acquired by the head of the Vatican Pope Gregory XVI.

Aivazovsky traveled almost all over Europe, visiting some countries more than once. Sales of paintings and solo exhibitions brought him a good income. By the end of the trip abroad, there were 135 visas in Aivazovsky's passport.

In 1844 (two years ahead of schedule) Aivazovsky returned to the northern capital. The Academy of Arts awarded him the title of academician "in the field of painting marine species" and awarded him the Order of St. Anna, 3rd degree. He also received the title of the first painter of the Main Naval Staff with the right to wear the uniform of the Naval Ministry.

In the spring of 1845, Aivazovsky, as part of the expedition of the geographer Admiral F. P. Litke, set off on a long sea voyage across the Mediterranean Sea (Greece, Asia Minor, Turkey). From this trip, the artist brought back many pencil sketches, including views of Constantinople and its environs.

And in the fall of 1845, having refused to serve in the capital, Aivazovsky went to his native Feodosia, where he began to build his own house in the Italian style. In May 1846, the artist celebrated the tenth anniversary of his creative activity on a grand scale. All Feodosia walked for three days, and a squadron under the command of V. A. Kornilov entered the bay to greet the hero of the day.

Aivazovsky traveled a lot. He often visited St. Petersburg, Moscow and other cities of Russia, repeatedly visited Europe. In 1868 he went to the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, and in 1869 - to Egypt to open the Suez Canal. At the age of 77, Aivazovsky decided to travel to America, where he organized his paintings exhibitions in different cities.

Several times Aivazovsky visited Constantinople, where he managed to get a large order from the Turkish sultan Abdul-Aziz to depict the views of the Bosphorus. For the sultan, he wrote 40 works, for which he was awarded the highest Turkish order "Osmaniye" (Nishani Osmani).

Aivazovsky was married twice. The first wife, Yulia Yakovlevna Grevs, whose portrait he never painted, gave birth to four children to Ivan Konstantinovich. However, their union did not work out from the very beginning, the spouses lived separately for a long time, their relationship was hostile. In 1877, at the insistence of Aivazovsky, the Echmiadzin Synod dissolved their marriage. The second time in 1882, at the age of 65, Aivazovsky married 25-year-old Anna Sarkizova and lived with her until the end of his days.

In 1865, Aivazovsky opened in Feodosia "General Art Workshops" (a branch of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts), from the walls of which came such artists as Konstantin Artseulov, Mikhail Latri, Alexey Ganzen, Lev Lagorio and others.

In 1888, Aivazovsky organized the construction of a water pipeline in Feodosia from a Subash spring, which belonged to him personally. Although the townspeople had to pay for using the water supply, they could drink water from the fountain on Novobazarna Square for free.

These are, in short, the main stages in the life and creative path of the great Russian artist Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky.

Let's start with the amazing fact that in his entire long life, Aivazovsky wrote a colossal number of paintings, officially more than six thousand, and organized over 120 personal exhibitions!

Such great masters of the artistic brush as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Raphael Santi, Sandro Botticelli, Alexander Ivanov, who painted the painting "The Appearance of Christ to the People" for twenty years, and many others "nervously smoke".

Let's go further.

Official biographers claim that Aivazovsky came out of a poor Armenian family and only thanks to his talent ascended to fame and fortune.

Is this so?

Let me remind you a few interesting facts from the biography of Aivazovsky. It is known that initially Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky was called Hovhannes Gaivazian (Gaivazovsky). And only in 1841 he became Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky.

His father Gevorg Gaivas (1771-1841) spent his childhood in southern Poland, near Lviv. After a quarrel with relatives (large landowners), Gevorg moved to Wallachia (Moldavia), and from there to the Crimea, where in Feodosia he became the manager of the local market. It is known that before the annexation of Crimea to Russia, slaves were traded on the Feodosia market for centuries.

There is a version about the Turkish roots of Hovhannes Gayvazovsky. It was not for nothing that, while in Istanbul, Ivan Konstantinovich sometimes visited the slave market, and somehow he even had a conflict with the local authorities.

Let us also pay attention to the fact that in the principality of Theodoro, which existed in the 13th-15th centuries in the Crimea, the Byzantine aristocratic family of Gavras ruled.

So Hovhannes was not poor and ignorant. It is enough to look at his portrait at a young age (the spitting image of Pushkin) and read the memoirs of his contemporaries about his attitude towards others.

It is interesting that the first student-copier of Aivazovsky, who in many ways followed the path of his teacher, Lev Feliksovich Lagorio (1826-1905), came from an aristocratic Genoese family. His father, Felix Lagorio (1781-1857), was a merchant-merchant, vice-consul of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and, naturally, a freemason.

Aivazovsky, while studying at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, led a rather secluded life. He had few friends, he avoided noisy and cheerful companies. Peers responded in kind. And, apparently, the arrogant character of Aivazovsky explains his conflict with the teacher F. Tanner, because of which Hovhannes, on the personal instructions of the tsar, wanted to be expelled from the Academy. The Frenchman described Aivazovsky as an ungrateful and dishonest person.

I will cite one more memoirs of a contemporary. Before his first trip to Europe, Aivazovsky stayed for a month in St. Petersburg, at the apartment of his classmate Vasily Sternberg, where the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko also lived. In the autobiographical story The Artist, Taras Shevchenko gave an unflattering characterization to Aivazovsky. He was surprised by the arrogance and secrecy of Aivazovsky, who did not want to communicate closely and show his paintings, painted in Crimea. A crowd of friends saw off Sternberg abroad, but nobody saw Aivazovsky.

Living with Sternberg for a month, Aivazovsky was solving his financial problem. The Academy offered 4 thousand rubles for the Crimean paintings. Aivazovsky, along with his teacher A. I. Zauerweid, believed that if such pictures were painted by a foreigner, he would be paid 20 thousand rubles. And then it was a lot of money. But this time Aivazovsky did not manage to knock out the desired amount.

Please note that Aivazovsky became famous only after traveling abroad. In the capitals of Europe, as if on command, they began to admire the work of the young talent and pay well for his paintings. The themes of Aivazovsky's paintings, you see, were not very diverse and original. He tried to imitate the style of his favorite romantic artist Sylvester Shchedrin (1791-1830).

In Russia, the situation was different. Romanticism in painting was becoming a thing of the past, giving way to realism. The artist A. A. Ivanov said that Aivazovsky creates fame for himself with newspaper hype, I. N. Kramskoy, V. Garshin despised Aivazovsky's custom paintings, and A. Benois believed that the seascape painter was outside the general development of the Russian landscape school. Most of the artist's contemporaries called his style fabulous and naive, primitive and popular.

Aivazovsky developed his own method of painting: he usually painted from memory and very quickly. A few hours were enough for him, a maximum of days, and then, as a rule, Ivan Konstantinovich did not return to his creations.

Truly a cursive writer, not a painter!

Here are some interesting cases from Aivazovsky's first trip abroad.

Surprisingly, the world famous marine painter Joseph Turner came from England especially to meet with the young Aivazovsky. They retired and talked for a long time about something, and their conversations were not only about art. However, Hovhannes did not share the content of these conversations with his foreign friends (Sternberg, Gogol, Botkin, Panaev).

In Italy, Aivazovsky maintained friendly relations with such a dark personality as C. A. Vecchi, who was Giuseppe Garibaldi's adjutant. The national hero of Italy, in turn, has been to the Crimea.

It is impossible not to mention the strange episode that happened to Aivazovsky (he himself mentioned it). In December 1842, Ivan Konstantinovich had to go to an exhibition in Paris together with K. A. Vecchi, who had disappeared somewhere at that time. Aivazovsky had to hit the road alone. In Genoa, in the office of stagecoaches, he accidentally (?) Met a young woman, the Austrian Polish Countess Potocka. Again, purely by chance, they rode in the same coach, talking about politics. In Milan, they had a good time together.

"Well, what's wrong with that ?!" - you will grin. Many men would like to ride in a stagecoach with the Polish countess and spend time with her exploring Milan Cathedral. After all, Aivazovsky is only 25 years old, he is rich and not married.

Do not be indignant. The most interesting thing happened later. The Countess disappeared without a trace, but a certain Mr. Tesletsky appeared, who (according to K. Vekka) wanted to challenge Aivazovsky to a duel, defending the honor of the Countess. However, K. Vecchi, who appeared, somehow settled this conflict.

Dear reader, doesn't this sound like a classic "sweet trap"? You ask: "Why and who needed it?" And then, so that Aivazovsky does not lose his desire to provide certain services to anyone. It was not for nothing that K. Vekki was so actively crammed into friends with Aivazovsky (and not only him), wrote laudatory articles about him. But with the artist A. Ivanov K. Vekka failed to make friends.

Perhaps, incredulous reader, do you think that all this is speculation and conspiracy theories? It may or may not be!

Little is known about Aivazovsky's trips to England either. Who did he meet there and what did he talk about? Maybe he saw the relatives of Count Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov (1782-1856), the governor of Novorossiya and Crimea. It was him, then the governor, Alexander Pushkin, being in exile in Chisinau, and then in Odessa (1820-1824), ridiculed him for Anglomania. Aivazovsky met with Count Vorontsov more than once and painted pictures by his order, which he allegedly sent to London to his sister.

After returning from abroad, Aivazovsky developed a vigorous activity in painting and organizing personal exhibitions. His first student Lev Lagorio made copies of paintings and sent them to customers. In the future, the functions of the courier and organizer began to be performed by the son of Aivazovsky's sister Levon Georgievich Mazirov (Maziryan).

And yet a logical question arises: "Where did the number of fans of Aivazovsky's marinas increase so sharply in Europe and Russia?" Other marine painters, both European and Russian, did not enjoy such fame. For example, Alexei Petrovich Bogolyubov (1824-1896) was the same as Aivazovsky in the service of the Naval Department, but he could not achieve such "known degrees". Bogolyubov was very critical of the work of Aivazovsky.

Perhaps the answer to the question is that Aivazovsky was at the right time and in the right place. Hovhannes was born and resided permanently in Crimea. It is also important that he was the first painter of the General Naval Staff and he knew some secret information. It is impossible not to mention the comical case when Aivazovsky convinced the commander of the ship that he (Aivazovsky) knew the structure of this ship better.

Aivazovsky had the right to freely paint the sea views of the Crimea (and not only), and the authorities had to assist him in this. In other words, he had official permission to write, for example, warships in the Sevastopol bay, ports, coastal fortifications, etc.

The images of the military installations were classified. It is known that when transporting paintings to St. Petersburg, depicting some episodes of the sea voyage of warships to the Caucasus in 1838, Aivazovsky took precautions that were required of him by the leadership of the Academy. The most famous picture of this campaign is "NN Raevsky's landing in Subashi".

At the beginning of 1853, Aivazovsky made the first attempt to open an art school in Feodosia. He wanted the school to have an official status (to have an official seal), but to be relatively independent from the Academy in its activities. For the maintenance of the school, it was necessary to allocate 3 thousand silver rubles from the treasury. The tsar refused funding, and the school could not be opened.

It is worth recalling that Aivazovsky tried to open an art school before the start of the Crimean or Eastern War (1853-1856). Apparently, the demand for paintings by Aivazovsky and their copies has grown greatly. And how do you assess the fact that during the Crimean War, Ivan Konstantinovich sent his paintings to the London exhibition, to the capital of the aggressor country?

If we also take into account that Aivazovsky considered copying pictures to be the main method of teaching, then vague doubts begin to torment. Who needed such a large number of copies of Aivazovsky's paintings? Who needed numerous images of coastlines, fortifications, ports of Crimea?

Again, at the insistence of his wife Yulia Grevs, Aivazovsky at the beginning of 1853 decided to take up archeology. Why's that? On April 31, 1853, Ivan Konstantinovich received permission for archaeological excavations in the Crimea from the Minister of Appanages L. A. Perovsky. Excavations continued until 1856, that is, until the end of the Crimean War. Minister L. A. Perovsky followed the excavations and demanded a report on the results.

Please note that it was not Ivan Konstantinovich and his wife who dug 80 mounds and found the grave of Khan Mamai, although modern archaeologists believe that Mamai's grave is located in a different place. Indeed, with such a large amount of earthwork, assistants were needed. We do not know anything about them. Were they drunken dockmen?

A few years later, a similar story repeated itself with another amateur archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann, a successful businessman who supplied sulfur, saltpeter, lead, tin, iron and gunpowder for the needs of the Russian army during the Crimean War, at the end of which he became a millionaire.

Again, a logical question arises: was it not thanks to Herr Schliemann and others like him that the defenders of Sevastopol so badly needed gunpowder, guns, small arms? In practically everything that was necessary for the successful defense of the city?

Then, at a considerable age and for reasons unknown to Providence, Schliemann suddenly decided to take up archeology. Henry was seized with a passion for the search for the mythological Homeric Troy. It is known that Schliemann conducted excavations in Troy (Hisarlik) not far from the Russian-Turkish theater of military operations.

However, not only the scientific world, but also Schliemann himself was not sure that he had managed to find the legendary Troy. Every time the Russian-Turkish conflict escalated, Schliemann had doubts: did he dig up Troy? And every time he returned, taking assistants, and for thirteen years he dug, dug and dug …

However, back to Aivazovsky.

Preparing for the storming of Sevastopol, the British and their allies thoroughly fortified themselves in Balaklava, where they built a railway and held a telegraph for communication with the metropolis. For a long time (a whole year) British troops did not dare to launch an assault, since they did not have sufficient information about the state of the defense of Sevastopol. Perhaps the mysterious archaeological assistants helped them in collecting this information.

It is known that Aivazovsky repeatedly visited besieged Sevastopol and knew the situation well from the inside, made numerous sketches, talked with many, and delved into a lot. It even went so far that Admiral V. A. Kornilov officially issued an order for the forced expulsion of Aivazovsky from the city (allegedly to save the artist's life). And, perhaps, in order not to interfere and climb everywhere?

Aivazovsky himself, in a letter to Minister L. A. Perovsky, wrote that he was in Sevastopol to collect the most detailed information, and he succeeded. For whom did Aivazovsky collect information? For the admirals of the Main Naval Staff of Russia, who for some reason were not in the know? And why did he report to the Minister of Appanages L. A. Perovsky?

A few words must be said about the first wife of Aivazovsky, Yulia Yakovlevna Grevs. She was the daughter of an English staff captain who was in the Russian service. James (Jacob) Greves was a Lutheran from Scotland and served as personal physician to Tsar Alexander I. After the death (poisoning?) Of Alexander I in 1825 in Taganrog, James Grevs disappeared without a trace. It should be noted that Alexander I became ill after he visited Alupka with Count M. S. Vorontsov. Six months later, the wife of Alexander I, Elizaveta Alekseevna, suffered the same fate.

And how do you, patient readers, do such an act of Aivazovsky?

Immediately after the end of the Crimean War, in November 1856, Aivazovsky went to an exhibition in Paris, that is, he went to an enemy country. In February 1857, he was received by Napoleon III and at the same time became a Knight of the French Order of the Legion of Honor. Why such honors after the end of the war to a citizen of a hostile country? Really for the images of the water surface?

By the way, in Paris, Aivazovsky met with the Italian composer Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (1792-1868). But judging by the memoirs of Aivazovsky himself, the meeting was somehow strained. As if Rossini was carrying out the task entrusted to him and was glad to quickly disappear.

Jean-Jacques Pelissier (1794-1864) visited Aivazovsky at the exhibition in Paris. What is this man famous for, you ask? And the fact that in the Crimean War he was the commander of the French forces near Sevastopol. Jean-Jacques told Aivazovsky that he would be glad to bring his good friends with a fine artistic taste to the exhibition. And Aivazovsky himself recalled this! What did Aivazovsky's paintings interest Commander Jean-Jacques and his aesthetic friends, who subtly feel the music of the sea?

We have to admit that Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (Hovhannes Gaivas) was not a great patriot of his homeland. He did not prioritize Russia's interests. Although, how to look? He was not Russian, but was, so to speak, a Polish-Turkish Armenian. Undoubtedly, the interests of Armenians and Armenia were in the first place. And also fame and money! Moreover, he took money and awards from everyone.

In Russia, Aivazovsky made a brilliant career and rose to the rank of privy councilor, was surrounded by honors and respect, although his colleagues criticized him harshly. They probably envied his wealth and connections. Aivazovsky was a member of many European Art Academies and a holder of orders and awards.

Studying the biography of Aivazovsky, you find that without the help of influential persons such as A. I. Kaznacheev, M. S. Vorontsov, N. F. Naryshkina, V. A. Bashmakova (granddaughter of A. Suvorov), artist S. Tonchi and others, Ivan Konstantinovich's talent would not have reached such heights. And why did some of these high society nobles try to help the poor artist, was it only because of the love of art? Doubtful.

It must be remembered that in the middle of the 19th century, relations between Russia and England sharply deteriorated, as well as the fact that there were many Anglophiles in the upper class of Russia. For example, the above-mentioned Count Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov, whose relatives lived in England. And in the government itself and the tsar's entourage there were enough of those who worked in the interests of foggy Albion.

Photography was only in its infancy at that time, and in order to successfully conduct hostilities in the Crimea, one had to know the area well. So the choice fell on Aivazovsky. And it was clear that they were rushing him, time was running out.

Let's take another look at the beginning of Aivazovsky's career. They wanted to send a talented boy to study immediately in Europe. However, this was not done. But then it turned out to arrange Hovhannes without exams at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg and to teach at the state expense with a pension of 3 thousand rubles a year. Aivazovsky, who had dropped out at the Academy for two years, was sent to Feodosia to “capture marine species”.

From abroad, Aivazovsky also returned two years ahead of schedule. I could have stayed there for a long time, as many artists did. But the craving for the Crimea was, apparently, stronger.

Let's pay attention to the fact that he was the first in Russia to start making personal exhibitions. The demand was so great that even Aivazovsky, for all his high-speed manner of painting, could not keep up with him. And he had copier assistants and couriers.

So it turns out that for the sake of money, Aivazovsky could bargain with the interests of Russia. Although to say that Ivan Konstantinovich was a hater of Russia is hardly correct. If Europeans pay several times more for paintings than in Russia, why not sell out? Moreover, the Anglophile environment is pushing for this, and the Europeans are asking very much and are very grateful for the services.

Aivazovsky served mammon, not art. The artist's contemporaries spoke about this, who could not understand why there is such a great demand for such primitive and monotonous seascapes. And everything just turns out. The one who pays calls the tune. Serious customers did not pay for the talented image of the water, but for the marine species that they needed.

Sergey Valentinovich