[Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (Hovhannes Aivazian)]

Babaev Studio|Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (Hovhannes Aivazian)

1893 · Albumen silver print from glass negative with inset oil painting · Photographs

The Romantic artist Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (1817–1900) was widely renowned for his paintings of sea battles, shipwrecks, and storms at sea. Born into an Armenian family in the Crimean port city of Feodosia, Aivazovsky was enormously prolific—he claimed to have created some six thousand paintings during his lifetime. He was a favorite of Czar Nicholas I and was appointed official artist of the Russian imperial navy. In 1887, as part of a jubilee celebration of his career, Aivazovsky hosted a dinner for 150 friends. Each guest received a miniature painting by Aivazovsky set into a studio photograph of the artist at work. Several years later, he dedicated the present photograph and painting to Calouste Gulbenkian, the Armenian-British oil financier and art collector.

Artist

Babaev Studio|Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (Hovhannes Aivazian)

Date

1893

Medium

Albumen silver print from glass negative with inset oil painting

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Gilman Collection, Museum Purchase, 2005