Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (Russian, 1817-1900)
The morning catch signed in Cyrillic and dated '1870' (lower right) and further signed in Latin and dated '1870' (lower left) oil on canvas 71.5 x 88.5cm (28 1/8 x 34 13/16in).
Footnotes
PROVENANCE: Private collection
We are grateful to Gianni Caffiero for confirming the authenticity of the offered lot.
The present lot is a fine example of Aivazovsky's use of colour. The heat-infused mist is tinged with pink, imbued with colour by the sun's rays. Caffiero and Samarine, in Seas, Cities and Dreams; The Paintings of Ivan Aivazovsky, Alexandria Press, London, 2000, talk of the artist employing a 'pre-ordained colour range', with a dominant colour determining the shades in which everything else in the painting is depicted. In The morning catch, pink is the dominant colour, piqued by hues of blue which hint at the chill of the air and water before sunrise.
The offered composition bears features similar to those of Crimean Coast, 1853 (op. cit., p. 207, plate 144) where the mist obscures the horizon, thus extending it infintely, as the light-suffused sky melds with the water. In The morning catch, the ghost-like ships extend the compass of the painting as their approach hints at the never-ending expanse of sea beyond.
