“He was, oh sea, your singer…. To the sea (Pushkin)

E. G. - Dear Mr. Aivazovsky, some of your documents and letters were signed (before 1841) by "Ivan Gaivazovsky". The letters you wrote in Armenian to various leaders of Armenia, including Catholicos Nerses and Gevork IV, were signed by Hovhannes or Hovhannes Aivazovsky. Why is there such a discrepancy? What is the right way to dignify you?
I. A. - My elder brother Gabriel Ayvazyan, archbishop, a prominent scientist and publicist, wrote that his father's name was Kaitan Ayvaz. Having moved from Moldova to Russia, my father appropriated the name Konstantin-Gevork, and the surname Aivaz, or Gayvaz, ( Armenian letter h translates into Russian either "G" or "A") found it necessary to remake it into Gaivazovsky. This was written until 1840, and then they began to write - Aivazovsky. Konstantin-Gevork Aivazovsky is our father, who died in 1841. Mother - Hripsime Aivazovskaya. In letters to native language I always wrote my name Hovhannes or Hovhannes (translated from Armenian into Russian - Ivan). And the surname is Ayvazovsky or Ayvazyan. In official documents and among Russians, I sign with Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky.

E. G. - How do you feel about religion?
I. A. - I profess the Armenian-Gregorian faith.

E. G. - Dear Ivan Konstantinovich, I beg your pardon for my tactlessness, but your personal life is also overgrown with legends. So that there is no misinterpretation, please tell us about it yourself.
IA - In 1848 I married the Englishwoman Julia Grevs. We met in Petersburg, in a rich house, where I was invited for the evening and where Julia served as a governess. Julia was beautiful, educated, had a fine sense of art. We got married very soon. They got married in the Armenian church, on the condition that our children would also be baptized in the Armenian church.

The marriage, however, turned out to be unhappy: with a painfully irritable character and vanity, my wife developed a mania to complain and slander me. This has worsened over the years. In numerous petitions, she slandered me: she said that I did not provide for her and her daughters. She even wrote to the king. Our friends tried to reconcile us, but Yulia continued to slander me and at the same time insisted that it was impossible to dissolve the marriage according to the rules of the Armenian Church. So she tried to gain power over me, to force me to move to Petersburg, to tear me away from Feodosia, where I worked and lived well. The growing dissimilarity of tastes, habits, world outlook became unbearable. On the 12th year married life we broke up. Julia left with four of our daughters and only occasionally allowed them to visit me. Although later Zhanna, my youngest daughter, lived with me with her family.

EG - Was your marriage terminated immediately?
IA - I had to apply to the Echmiadzin Synod with a request for divorce. The marriage was dissolved in 1877. Realizing, however, my duty - to provide for the existence of my daughters and wife, I gave her real estate in the Crimea, bringing a rent of 1,500 rubles a year, and, in addition, I give out in cash on a monthly basis.

E. G. - Was your second marriage with the Armenian Anna Nikitichnaya (Mkrtychevna) Sarkisova (Sarkizova) happy?
I.A. - The second time I got married quite late, in 1882.
But sometimes under the snow
Boiling water is running ...
Previously, I did not know Anna Nikitichnaya, but I heard a lot about her good name. How much natural tact, sensitivity, warmth there is in this woman. She understands my art, although she has not read books about painting. Life has now become calm and happy.
He was very afraid to connect his life with a woman of another nation, so as not to shed tears. The patriarch placed on the pages of Constantinople newspapers thank you letter to the Echmiadzin Catholicos for the dissolution of my first marriage, thanks to which I became closer to my nation.

EG - Ivan Konstantinovich, you have been writing since childhood, and since 1838 - constantly. There are your paintings in London (about 30), Berlin (about 13) and other European cities, there are a lot in Russia, in Armenia. They say that you never paint from life. This is true?
IA - I think a painter who only copies nature becomes its slave. A person who is not gifted with a memory that preserves the impressions of living nature can be an excellent copier, a living photographic apparatus, but never a true artist. The movements of the living elements are elusive for the brush: to paint lightning, a gust of wind, a splash of water is unthinkable from nature. My imagination is stronger than the receptivity of real impressions.

E. G. - Do you work fast? How long does it take to create a painting?
IA - I work quickly. I write air without fail during one morning, no matter how great the picture is. Mixing colors requires this. Thus, sometimes it is necessary not to leave the picture from six in the morning until four in the afternoon.

E. G. - There are viewers for whom some of your paintings leave the impression of incompleteness. To correctly "read" your thought in a picture, what is the best way to look at it?
I. A. - If the viewer stands in front of a picture, for example, "Moonlit Night" and pays the main attention to the moon, and to its other parts, let's say, in passing, and from above, he will not forget that this is a night that deprives us of all reflections, he will find that the picture is more complete than it should be.

E. G. - Which of your canvases do you consider the best?
IA - Positively, each has something successful, but I cannot choose between all my works. They completely do not satisfy me. Although my works are distinguished by the power of light, those in which the main power is the power of the sun, the moon, as well as the waves and foam of the sea, should be considered the best.

E.G. - Ivan Konstantinovich, you considered it your duty to thank everyone who helped our people in the difficult years of its history, sent large sums to help the Armenian refugees, they gave shelter to many Armenian families on their estate near Feodosia. Have you painted pictures on the themes of your historical homeland?
I. A. - In 1895 I wrote "The Massacre of Armenians in Trebizond", "Turks Throwing Armenians into the Sea of ​​Marmara", then "Catholicos Khrimyan Hayrik in the vicinity of Echmiadzin", "Valley of Mount Ararat", "Baptism Armenian people"and many others. I corresponded with Catholicos Nerses about the harmful activities of the Jesuits (1846). I received an invitation from Catholicos Gevork IV to visit Echmiadzin, and Catholicos Khrimyan spent three days in Feodosia and the same amount in my estate. I presented him with a painting for Echmiadzin. "World creation".

E. G. - Did you know other figures of Armenian culture?
I. A. - The great tragedian Petros Adamyan visited my house and painted my portrait. I even played music with the composer Alexander Spendiarov - I played the violin. The artists Gevorg Bashinjaghyan, V. Makhokhbyan, M. Jivani and others visited my house. And my daughter, Zhanna, whose voice was appreciated by Verdi, sang.

EG - Ivan Konstantinovich, even today in Feodosia they remember with gratitude all your good deeds, but they speak especially warmly about the gallery you donated to the city and the water supply system. Until now, the water from your mains supply is considered the tastiest and purest.
IA - On August 30, 1888, the water was already in the city, a distance of 26 versts. Agree that one year is pretty soon. We, through the Minister of Internal Affairs, asked the sovereign-emperor to name the fountain after him, but Plehve reported by telegram that His Majesty ordered to name the fountain by my name.

E. G. - Dear maestro! And finally the last question -
"... The poet became the subject of my thoughts." Is it about Pushkin?
I. A. - Yes. During my youth, three months before his death, Alexander Sergeevich and his beautiful wife came to an exhibition at the Academy of Arts, where I studied. I, who was then receiving the gold medal, was introduced to him. Pushkin greeted me affectionately, looked at my paintings. Upon learning that I was a southerner, he asked if I was sick in the north. Since then, the poet has become the subject of my thoughts and inspiration. Over the course of my long life, I have painted many paintings and drawings dedicated to the poet. Now, in my declining years, I am working on a huge new canvas. The plot is the same great inspirer of artists - Pushkin. I realized that I had to embody not a portrait of the poet: my purpose is to embody the sea in Pushkin's style. This will be the image of the poet.

It is about the painting "Among the Waves". It was written in ten days. And the master walked to her a whole life. "Among the Waves" is a masterpiece of the marina and the best monument to the poet.

IK Aivazovsky's answers are taken from the collection "Aivazovsky. Documents and Materials" (Yerevan. "Hayastan". 1967) and "Aivazovsky" (L. Wagner, N. Grigorovich. Series "ZhVI". Moscow, 1970.
Aivazovsky ... there is a star of the first magnitude ... and not only here, but in the history of art in general.
I. N. Kramskoy

The publication was prepared by Emma Hakobyan-Gasparyan

Goodbye free element!
For the last time in front of me
You roll blue waves
And you shine with proud beauty.

Like a mournful murmur of a friend,
How is his call at the hour of farewell,
Your sad noise, your inviting noise
I heard for the last time.

The desired limit of my soul!
How often on your shores
I wandered quiet and foggy,
We languish with cherished intent!

How I loved your reviews,
Deaf sounds, voices of abyss
And silence in the evening hour
And wayward impulses!

The humble sail of the fishermen
Kept by your whim,
Glides bravely through the swell:
But you leaped, irresistible,
And the flock is sinking ships.

Couldn't leave forever
I am boring, motionless shore,
Congratulate you with delight
And guide along your ridges
My poetic escape!

You waited, you called ... I was bound;
My soul was torn in vain:
Fascinated by a mighty passion,
I stayed at the coast ...

What to regret? Wherever now
Have I directed a carefree path?
One item in your wilderness
My soul would be struck.

One rock, tomb of glory ...
They plunged into a cold sleep there
Memories are majestic:
Napoleon was fading away there.

There he rested in torment.
And after him, like a storm, noise,
Another genius rushed away from us,
Another ruler of our thoughts.

Disappeared, mourned by freedom
Leaving the world with your crown.
Noise, get excited about the bad weather:
He was, oh sea, your singer.

Your image was marked on it,
He was created by your spirit:
How powerful, deep and gloomy you are,
Like you, nothing is indomitable.

The world is empty ... now where
Would you carry me out, ocean?
The fate of people is the same everywhere:
Where there is a drop of good, there is on guard
Already enlightenment il tyrant.

Goodbye, sea! I will not forget
Of your solemn beauty
And for a long, long time I will hear
Your hum in the evening hours.

In the woods, in the deserts are silent
I will transfer, I am full of you,
Your rocks, your bays
And shine, and shadow, and the sound of waves.

Analysis of the poem "To the Sea" by Pushkin

A. Pushkin wrote the poem "To the Sea" under the impression of his stay in Odessa in Southern exile. Pushkin experienced tremendous boredom and dissatisfaction from the petty clerical position assigned to him as punishment. He found a way out only in the pursuit of creativity, for which he was inspired by the Black Sea. Parting with Odessa, Pushkin began work on the farewell work "To the Sea". It was completed already in Mikhailovsky in 1824.

The poem is written in the elegy genre. The first part is devoted exclusively to the beauty of the "free element". Pushkin is glad to escape from the imprisonment that weighed him down, but he feels sad from parting with the sea. He compares the sounds of the surf with the farewell call of a faithful friend at parting. The poet indulges in happy memories of walks along the seashore. The "cherished intent" he mentioned is Pushkin's plans to escape abroad.

The poet is delighted with the greatness of the sea. He sees in him a manifestation higher power that doesn't care about the individual. In a calm state, the sea hospitably opens up its expanses to numerous fishermen. But a fleeting whim of nature turns the sea into a mighty element that easily destroys the “flock of ships”.

Pushkin compares his escape plans to a sea call. The fact that they did not come true, he sees the influence of "mighty passion." This passion can be interpreted as love for the homeland, and that did not allow the great poet to leave Russia. He does not regret the decision... Leaving the Fatherland, Pushkin would have become like an eternal exile. In connection with this thought, he introduces into the poem the image of a romantic hero - Napoleon. Life path the French emperor was a favorite theme for romanticism. His life imprisonment on a lost lonely island was considered real incarnation tragic fate not understood by the crowd of genius.

In the poem appears the image of "another ruler of our thoughts" - who died at the beginning of 1824. Pushkin highly appreciated the work of the English romantic and constantly turned to him in his works. He considered Byron a "singer" of freedom and justice. The image of the sea was closest to his powerful and indomitable spirit. Byron's tragic death was of great importance for Pushkin. It symbolized the defeat of freedom and the victory of tyranny, the triumph of reaction. The poet makes a pessimistic conclusion that the "fate of the earth" is the same everywhere. Escape from Russia, in essence, would not have changed anything.

In the concluding lines, Pushkin again turns to the sea with a promise to forever preserve its "solemn beauty" in memory, to convey the image of the sea to Russian fields and forests.

Today, on the day of the 90th birthday of Valentin Savvich Pikul, the All-Russian Literary and Historical Wardroom, dedicated to the outstanding Russian writer, patriot, sailor and his creative heritage, is being held in Moscow on Pushkin Square

In an event organized by the All-Russian Fleet Support Movement (DPF) together with Federal Agency sea ​​and river transport, the widow of the writer A.I.Pikul, representatives of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Transport, Rosmorrechflot, creative, veteran organizations, educational institutions, volunteer and search movements.
Valentin Savvich is a unique phenomenon in Russian literature. A nugget, deprived of the opportunity to receive a full-fledged education by the war, a patriot who breathed in the power of his talent and civil energy new life into the most interesting pages of Russian history. Peaceful childhood of Valentin Pikul was interrupted by the Great Patriotic War... When he was thirteen years old, he put out "lighters" in besieged Leningrad, at fourteen - he studied at the Solovetsky school as a boy, and at the age of fifteen he was appointed commander of a combat post on the destroyer "Grozny".
A brilliant popularizer of history, he can be said to have brought back the memory of several generations of Russian people. His books on historical and military marine theme both old and young are read. In his novels "In the Backyard great empire"," Paris for three hours "," Pen and sword "," Battle of the iron chancellors "," Favorite "," I have the honor "and others Pikul managed to combine the chronicle of events with a fascinating plot, which attracts readers to his books to this day ...
In his memoirs, the writer defined the meaning of his work as follows: "The task of a historical novelist is to destroy stereotypes and templates in order to resurrect the forgotten heroes of the Fatherland from oblivion." And with his talent, he returned from oblivion many heroes of Russia, great and imperceptible, glorified and undeservedly forgotten, with their unique character and extraordinary fate.
Today V.S.Pikul is one of the most published Russian writers in the world. The total circulation of his works, published in Russia and dozens of foreign countries, has exceeded 500 million.
Pikul is especially fond of sailors and river workers. For the cycle of works on the marine theme - "Ocean Patrol", "Out of a Dead End", "Moonzund", "Requiem for the PQ-17 Caravan", "Wealth", "Three Ages of Okini-san", "Hard labor" - Pikul is called a seascape writer ... For the novel "Cruiser" in 1988 he was awarded the title of laureate of the State Prize of the RSFSR.
The widow of the writer Antonina Ilyinichna Pikul with the support of public organizations conducts a great deal of work to disseminate the creative heritage of the great patriot sailor. She is the author of 9 biographical books dedicated to the writer and his work.
The All-Russian Fleet Support Movement is actively helping her in this. The history of the DPF is closely connected with the largest Russian writers who devoted their work to the Russian fleet, its history and Russian sailors, among whom V.S.Pikul occupies a special place. In the late 90s of the last century, the Movement led an all-Russian campaign to raise funds for the completion of ships for the Navy and the maritime border guard. The funds raised were used to complete the construction of three warships, including the Valentin Pikul sea minesweeper, currently serving in the Black Sea Fleet. On the initiative of the DPF, in 2013, a monument to the writer was unveiled for the 85th anniversary of Pikul, who served as a cabin boy on the destroyer of the Northern Fleet during the war years.
- Despite the difficult circumstances of his time, throughout the broadest thematic coverage of the literary path, Pikul strove to be extremely sincere in his assessments. The origins of this sincerity and the power of his creative method lie in the colossal desire to influence the Russian people, the state, military, naval system in better side... The books of Valentin Savvich have the main thing - they are read, figuratively speaking, in one breath, - notes the chairman of the DPF, captain of the 1st rank of the reserve Mikhail Petrovich Nenashev.

Prepared by Irina VIKTOROVA. Photos from the Internet

"He was, oh sea, your singer"

Under the influence of the advanced Russian art of the Itinerants in the work of Aivazovsky, realistic features were manifested with special force, making his works even more expressive and meaningful.

One of the artist's best creations - the painting "The Sea" (1864), became a pathetic and heartfelt hymn to the beauty of nature - the sea, the sky, the mountains. The living, breathing sea drives waves to the shore, silvered by the pale light of the moon peeping through the clouds. The color of the work is sustained in a single colors, but amazes with the richness of tone transitions. The epic mood of the picture is involuntarily associated with the majestic and solemn chords from the symphonic poem of the same name by N.A.Rimsky-Korsakov. Aivazovsky's painting was highly appreciated by art critics of that time. The ideologist of the Wanderers I. N. Kramskoy wrote: "This is one of the most grandiose paintings that I only know."

In 1873, the painter created the outstanding painting "Rainbow". The plot - a storm at sea and a ship dying off a rocky shore - is nothing special for his work. But its colorful range, artistic performance was a completely new phenomenon in Russian painting of those years. Aivazovsky portrayed the storm as if he himself was in the epicenter of the raging waves. With virtuoso skill, it is written how a hurricane wind blows away mist from their crests. The silhouette of the sinking ship and the indistinct lines of the rocky shore are barely noticeable. A transparent wet shroud hangs in the air, through the haze of which a stream of sun rays has broken through, they have laid down as a multicolored rainbow on the water. The whole picture is sustained in the finest shades of blue, green, pink and purple colors. The rainbow itself, flickering with a barely perceptible mirage, is conveyed in the same, but slightly enhanced tones. The artist was able to capture and convey in the landscape that state when a turning point occurs and the sea calms down after indignation, calming down and resigning itself. The painting "Rainbow" became a new, even higher step in the work of Aivazovsky.

The generalized image of the formidable element is created by the artist in the painting "Wave" (1889). In it, he continues the theme of the fantastically stormy sea, the elements and opposition to it. A wave has just crashed on the sandy shore, and the seething water is rapidly returning to the sea, but a new wave rises to meet it, which is the compositional axis of the picture. And to enhance the impression of the rapidly growing movement, Aivazovsky places the horizon line so low that the large crest of the oncoming wave almost touches him. Far from the coast in the roadstead, ships are anchored with retracted sails. Thunderclouds rush across the sky. The colorful range of "Waves" and other paintings of this cycle is extremely stingy in color, almost to the point of monochrome. The color scheme is characterized by a combination of a leaden-gray sky with olive-ocher tones of water, slightly tucked up at the horizon by greenish-blue glazes. Such a minimal and at the same time very expressive color range, the absence bright effects and clear composition create a deeply truthful depiction of the surf on a stormy winter day. Aivazovsky said about "Volna" that it was "my best storm."

The experience of life, the ability to select visual impressions, to concentrate them, not to repeat what had already been expressed in previous paintings helped the great master to create one of his most remarkable marinas "The Black Sea" (1881). Multiple impressions from the observation of the sea element, its life, movement formed the basis of the landscape of Aivazovsky. In it, the artist summarized both his knowledge and his love for the Black Sea. The rhythm of the waves passing one after another and the ridge of clouds with their indefatigable movement create the image of the elements, fraught with formidable storms. "The Spirit of God hovering over the abyss" - these biblical words said Kramskoy, standing by the picture. The ideologue of Wanderlust, restrained in praise, always very accurately determined the dignity of the works of his fellow artists: “Between the 3-4 thousand numbers published by Aivazovsky, there are phenomenal things and will remain so forever ... There is nothing on it except sky and water, but water - it is an endless ocean, not stormy, but swaying, harsh, endless, and the sky, if possible, is even more endless. This is one of the grandest pictures I have ever known. " It is no accident that Kramskoy placed this painting by Aivazovsky in the interior of his painting Inconsolable Grief.

The painterly means used by the artist correspond to the severe simplicity of the content. There is not the slightest external showiness here. The realistic truth of this picture is quite consonant with the painting of that era. Ivan Kramskoy was forced to admit that “no one can say how IK Aivazovsky can be resolved in the future. At one time, about 10 years ago, it seemed that his talent was written out, dried up and that he was only repeating himself, but in recent times he is again proving his immense vitality. "

And such a weighty proof was the painting "Among the Waves" painted by Aivazovsky in 1898. The Marinist was then 82 years old, but he lost neither the firmness of his hand, nor his color perception, nor visual memory, nor faith in his art. This grandiose canvas, both in terms of its artistic merit and its scale - 285x429 cm - Ivan Konstantinovich wrote for… 10 days, without correcting the once laid stroke. When looking at the picture, there can be no question of any fading of talent. Here the improvisational method of Aivazovsky's work and his absolute mastery of painting technique were fully and clearly manifested.

The artist depicted his favorite motif - a raging element: a stormy sky and a stormy sea, covered with waves, as if boiling in collision with one another. The picture is extremely simple in composition: there are no bright color effects in it. Aivazovsky abandoned the usual details in his paintings in the form of wreckage of masts and dying ships. Waves running from the horizon grow in the foreground to enormous sizes. The formidable element does not suppress with its power, but captures with beauty, delights with transparency permeated sunbeam water, thin sparkling foam lace pattern. This spiritualized image of the sea is one of the masterpieces of Russian and world marine painting.

Aivazovsky himself realized that "Among the Waves" in execution significantly surpasses all previous works recent years... Despite the fact that after its creation he continued to work hard, arranged exhibitions of his works in Moscow, London and St. Petersburg, he did not take this picture out of Feodosia and bequeathed it along with other works that were in his art gallery. hometown.

For another two years, Ivan Konstantinovich tirelessly set up huge canvases on an easel and fearlessly created the sea on them. In 1899, he painted a small painting "Calm at the Crimean Shores" - excellent in clarity and freshness of color, built on a combination of bluish-green water and pink in the clouds. And literally in the last days life, preparing for a trip to Italy, he painted the painting "The Sea of ​​the Sea", depicting the Gulf of Naples at noon. Despite the diminutiveness of the picture, the features of the artist's new coloristic achievements are clearly discernible in it.

Aivazovsky worked with great dedication on the last day of his life. On April 19 (May 2), 1900, there was a canvas on the easel with the painting “Explosion of the Ship” started - it is the only one of the master's entire legacy that remained unfinished. Perhaps it would also become a masterpiece, because it was not for nothing that the painter said that he considered his best painting "the one that stands on the easel in the studio, which I began to paint today ..."

Aivazovsky died suddenly, at night, from a cerebral hemorrhage. great person, the artist and citizen was buried with military honors, the local garrison laid the admiral's sword on the coffin. Feodosia was orphaned. The city dressed in mourning. Life has stopped: shops have closed, classes in educational institutions have ceased; the eternally buzzing market fell silent.

The road to the Armenian Church of Surb Sargis (St. Sergius), where Aivazovsky was baptized, crowned and where he was buried, was strewn with flowers. The marble sarcophagus is engraved with the words in the old Armenian language: "Born mortal, left an immortal memory." One can also say about the artist himself in the words of his favorite poet: "He was, oh sea, your singer." A bronze monument with a laconic inscription "Theodosius Aivazovsky" was erected at the facade of the picture gallery he created.

"He was, oh sea, your singer"

Among the letters received today was a letter from Moscow from the Historical Museum. In a year, it will be a hundred years since the birth of Pushkin, and more and more people turn to him from St. Petersburg, Moscow, Odessa with requests to write new paintings about the poet. Not many people survived who personally knew Alexander Sergeevich, who met with him.

Aivazovsky values ​​his paintings about Pushkin very much. He never forgot how affectionate the poet was with him - a novice artist. He adores Pushkin also because the nature of the Crimea, his native Black Sea, is sung in his poetry. And he is with youthful years seeks to imbue Pushkin's vision of the sea and embody it. Once, in Italy, the poet of Languages ​​wished him this. Years have passed, and Pushkin is still his ideal. He does not part with the poet's books. In them, now even more strongly than in youth, clarity and harmony, eternal praise to nature and life are revealed.

The letter received today from the Historical Museum especially excited Ivan Konstantinovich. It reminded him that human life has its limits, that time goes by without stopping, and he has not yet realized all the plans that arose in his youth, when the outlines of future paintings about Pushkin off the coast of the Black Sea vaguely appeared in his dreams.

But now he will write them. He will definitely write. He is ready to embody the ideas that have been nurtured throughout his whole life. But, listening to himself, to the sound that is always born in him before each new picture and fills his entire being, he now distinguishes more than one all-consuming sound. With his inner vision, he clearly sees that the image of Pushkin moves slightly away from him, does not leave, but moves aside and continues to gaze at him intently. Between him and Pushkin, two shafts of water suddenly rise. And he hears how the sound that fills him grows into a chant. Pushkin's eyes look at him expectantly, and then, when the powerful music blocks the sound of the waves, Pushkin laughs and waves his hand ...

Aivazovsky almost cries out: he now understands everything! Finally, the image of the sea, the only one to which he was drawn all his life, appeared to him in all its beauty and strength. I came through Pushkin ...

From now on it is clear to him - he should not strive to embody the portrait image of the poet, this is beyond his power; its purpose is to embody the sea in Pushkin style. This will be the image of the poet ...

On the same day, minister Pyotr Dormenko pulled on a colossal canvas. In the eighty-first year of his life, Aivazovsky ascended a high platform and began to paint the picture "Among the waves".

As usual, he did not have sketches prepared for this picture either, and he wrote it according to inspiration, faithful to his improvisational method. But in fact, the artist has been gradually preparing for it for ten years. In 1889 he wrote his huge Wave. There rise two rows of waves, between them a deep depression and a dying ship. Six years later, he writes a new "Wave". Water bumps are still rising, but there is no longer a ship falling out of the general composition, and the very rhythm of the waves movement is more natural. Now memory resurrects these two "Waves". Could he think, when he wrote them, that they would appear only as sketches for this new job... As never before, the artist felt that he approached the canvas, ready to reproduce everything that had been worn out, everything thought out. Only at the beginning of the work did he briefly succumb to former romantic hobbies and painted in the center of the picture a boat with people dying among the waves.

The grandchildren Nyx and Kitty, who were watching his work, shouted in one voice:

Don't, grandpa! No need to drown! ..

But he himself already understood that he should not do this. It is not fear, not horror that the sea should cause him! It doesn't exist to be feared. And it was as if his thoughts were transmitted to Jeanne, or maybe he was talking to himself so loudly that she heard ... And now her singing came from the drawing-room. She improvises a melody to the verses of Pushkin:

Goodbye free element! For the last time in front of me You roll blue waves And shine with proud beauty.

Yes Yes! That's right - he intends to portray the proud beauty of the sea ... All his life he loved the sea, admired it. I fully learned that beauty makes a person happy, strong, kind ... All these thoughts accompany each stroke with a brush. Now the canvas is divided into two parts: at the top is a dark stormy sky, and below it is a huge raging sea. And here is the center, in it, as in a funnel, primordial chaos boils, from which two waves rise ... And a miracle happens - nature sings a hymn to waves born out of chaos, which formed two water cones in the center of the ring ... sunlight illuminated the whole picture, and both billowing waves are illuminated from within, but the white foam between them is even lighter ... And again Jeanne's voice:

I failed to leave forever a boring, motionless shore ...

Oh, you my dear clever girl, Jeanne! .. Yes, yes, you will not see the sea in all its majesty and beauty on a dull, motionless shore. Pushkin understood this. And it was revealed to him when he wrote "The Black Sea". He will place both himself and the viewer far from the boring shore, from here he must watch the storm played out, for all its color shades ...

He was, oh sea, your singer. Your image was marked on it, He was created by your spirit ...

Jeanne's voice comes as if from afar. But this is so: he is far from the living room and from his workshop. Although the obedient brush does not stop running on the canvas, his spirit is among the waves and admires the boiling whirlpool of transparent shafts, the play of greenish-blue and lilac tones. They sound like a chord: "He was, oh sea, your singer."

Yes, with a clear conscience he accepts this title, which has long been given to him by people.

The rumor that Aivazovsky painted a colossal picture in ten days quickly spread among Crimean artists. And again painters and copyists from Simferopol, Yalta, Sevastopol rushed to him. Knowing the kindness of the artist, they all hoped that the master would allow them to immediately start copying the new painting. But, as soon as they saw the huge canvas, they immediately forgot about their intentions. Every artist at that moment thought that it took a lifetime to create such a picture. They told Ivan Konstantinovich about this.

You are absolutely right, my friends. All my previous life was preparation for the picture that you see. In it, it seems to me, I managed to achieve a combination of a flight of fantasy with the techniques developed over my long life.

The canvas "Among the Waves" found its permanent home - in the Gallery. Nowhere and never will this picture be sent from here, it will remain with him until the end of his life, and then when the Gallery becomes the property of his native city. Now every day, before going to the workshop, Ivan Konstantinovich stands in front of him for a long time. And in the workshop new paintings are born: "Pushkin on the shore with the Raevsky family at Kuchuk-Lambat", "Pushkin at the Gurzuf rocks", "Pushkin on the top of Ai-Petri at sunrise". The artist pays his last tribute to the poet. Aivazovsky is the first to meet Pushkin's centenary in Russia.