Prior to his voyage to Constantinople, Tsar Nicholas I asked Aivazovsky to paint views of such Russian seaports as Odessa, Sebastopole and Kertch. This particular work was painted in the Crimea and first exhibited in Odessa. It was then shown in Theodosia during the celebrations marking the tenth anniversary of the artist’s professional career. The Odessa Herald wrote: “The longer one stands in front of Aivazovsky’s view of Odessa, the more it enchants the eye.
The sea has so much life and movement, and the light on the ripples is so natural. One is amazed at the artist’s ability to capture and convey the charm of the southern moonlit night with such inimitable verity.”

Aivazovskiy Ivan

Aivazovsky (Haivazovsky), Hovhannes (Ivan Konstantinovich)

1817, Theodosia - 1900, Theodosia
Painter, graphic artist. Studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1833-1838). Fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts in the Crimea and Italy (1838-1844). Academician (1844), professor (1847), honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1887). Member of the Accademia di San Luca in Rome (1840) and the academies of Paris (1843), Amsterdam (1845), Florence (1875) and Stuttgart (1879). Contributed to around 120 exhibitions (from 1835). Contributed to the exhibitions of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1835-1900), Paris Salon (1843, 1879), Society of Exhibitions of Works of An (1876-1883), Moscow Society of Lovers of the Arts (1881), Pan-Russian Exhibitions in Moscow (1882) and Nizhny Novgorod (1896), International Exhibitions in Philadelphia (1876), Munich (1879) and Berlin (1886) and the World Exhibitions in Paris (1858, 1878), London (1863) and Chicago (1893). Awarded the Legion d'honneur (1857). Lived and worked in Theodosia, where he founded the General Art Studios (1865) and the Theodosia Picture Gallery (1880).