Aivazovsky’s works on sea at Naval Museum

ISTANBUL

Oil paintings by Russian artist Ivan Aivazovsky will come to Istanbul’s newly opened Naval Museum.

The Istanbul Naval Museum will continue its “Selected Painters” exhibition series with Russian painter Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, who is considered one of the most prominent Russian artists and one of the greatest marine artists of the 19th century.

The Aivazovsky exhibition that will open on Jan. 1, 2014 will showcase his oil paint works on canvas, according to a written statement made by the Naval Forces Command.

The Istanbul Naval Museum, which was opened on Oct. 4 in Beşiktaş, has a painting collection of around 700 oil paint, water paint, pencil drawing and gravure works. The museum will display the collection of works on maritime and naval history.

Aivazovsky was born in 1817 in the town of Theodosia, Crimea, to an Armenian family. In 1845, he went to Istanbul upon the invitation of Sultan Abdülmecid I. During his long sojourn in Istanbul, Aivazovsky was commissioned for a number of paintings as a court painter by the Ottoman Sultans Abdülmecid, Abdulaziz and Abdulhamid, 30 of which are currently on display in the Ottoman Imperial Palace, the Dolmabahçe Museum and many other museums in Turkey. His works are also found in dozens of museums throughout Russia and the former Soviet republics, including the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. The largest collections of his works are at the Aivazovsky Art Gallery in Feodosiya, Ukraine, and the National Gallery of Armenia.