An exhibition of works of the outstanding artist Ivan Aivazovsky - the “Metaphysics of Light” opened in the Art Museum Riga Bourse.
The exposition has been organised with the support of Rietumu Bank and Rietumu Charity Fund.
The exhibition presents several dozens of works of different genres - marine, landscapes and historical compositions, including, for the first time in Latvia, paintings from Odessa Art Museum and museums of Estonia. Visitors will also be able to see works of Ivan Aivazovsky from the collection of the Latvian National Museum of Art.
Among the famous works of the artist, paintings such as “View of Vesuvius the Day Prior to the Volcano Eruption”, 1885 (Art Museum of Estonia); “Pushkin on the Black Sea Coast”, 1897 (Odessa Art Museum); “Seascape (Evening)”, 1855 (Latvian National Museum of Art); landscape “Fog on the Sea”, 1884 (Latvian National Museum of Art), which was a gift to the city from the artist after his personal exhibition in Riga in 1886, and others are presented.
The exposition is also supplemented with dummy ships of the 19th century from the collection of the Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation.
As is commonly known, Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900) - a Russian artist of Armenian origin, is famous worldwide as a virtuosic master of marine art, already admired by his contemporaries. Nowadays, there are numerous exhibitions of his works arranged, albums devoted to him are issued and his paintings become top lots in international auctions.
According to fine art experts of the Art Museum Riga Bourse, the mastery of Aivazovsky is manifested in depicting imperceptible things such as water and light on the canvas, that certifies the profound studying of natural phenomena by the artist, a phenomenal visual memory and a refined painting technique. To reach the impression of the presence of light and the transparency of water, Aivazovsky developed a complex technique of glazing and a special method of applying paints. Sunrises and sunsets, high sun, day’s diffused lighting or moonlight - all these various metamorphoses of light fill the works of the painter with an exquisite colour palette and nuances of emotional mood.
The light that is reflected on the surface of the sea or that gleams through the waves is a characteristic feature of pictorial art by Aivazovsky and a cross-cutting issue of his paintings. The concept of the current exhibition is based on the intention to demonstrate works of different periods of the painter's art, where light is the main compositional element. Thus, the entire exposition is united by a common theme of variations of light.
The exhibition in the Art Museum Riga Bourse will be open until 5 January.
More information can be found on the website of the museum –
lnmm.lv/ru/mmrb
Eleonora Gailisha
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