Tag Archives: Aivazovsky

Art and the Environment

After reading “Baikal” by Rasputin and looking at the Aivazovsky paintings I was struck by the different portrayals of water in both the literature and the paintings. Though the paintings did not necessarily depict Lake Baikal, they paired well with the descriptions, both positive and negative from the narrator in Rasputin’s text.

There were many descriptions of Baikal as sacred, specifically “for its miraculous, life-giving force and for its spirit, which is a spirit not of olden times, of the past, as with many things today, but of the present, a spirit not subject to time and transformations, a spirit of age-old grandeur and power preserved intact, of irresistible ordeals and inborn will” (Rasputin 189). After introducing Baikal as such an important and powerful lake, he reflects on a time when he brought a colleague on a walk around the lake when its “beauty was in full bloom and at its peak” (190). The man by the lake’s beauty that, by the end of the day, he cannot intake anymore beauty. The Aivazovsky paintings, specifically “The Sea,” “Sailboat near the Crimean Shore,” and “Moonlit Night” struck me as portraying the kind of serenity and beauty that the man saw on his visit that day. The landscape is vast and shocking and the water is call and beautiful.

The other paintings by Aivazovsky parallel the other side of Baikal that Rasputin is careful to mention to his friend. The side that “can rage for no reason” and when “the transparent ice, swept clean by the winds, seems so thin that the water beneath it is alive and stirring” (Rasputin 191). The paintings “Night Storm at Sea,” and “The Ninth Wave” show the other sides of water that aren’t seen when the sea is calm and the sky is blue. Though these conditions are different and sound more daunting than the picture-perfect day initially described, they are all shown in the paintings to be stunning, striking, and rich in color. Rasputin agrees with this intensely beautiful portrayal of a raging sea, regardless of the dangers. He ends “Baikal” with a cry for protection of the lake, which is interesting given the lack of thesis or obvious political motivation. I wonder if art and literature ever collided to advocate for the environment.

Rocky Seas, Aivazovsky and our false security

Ivan Aivazovsky seascapes are striking for their dual display of natural beauty and ferocity. Aivazosky shows the sea’s turbulence as equally threatening and awe-inspiring forcing the viewer to consider the sea’s and ultimately nature’s superior power. The human figures in the selected paintings are small and seemingly insignificant compared to the grand natural scenery. Specifically, in The Ninth Wave and The Rainbow the human figure is seen being controlled by the natural environment and in dire circumstance: the sea is in control.

Specifically, in The Rainbow the beauty of the seascape is used as a veil to hide the eventual doom of the lifeboat. In the distance a ship is seen moments before capsizing and crashing into the shore, and in the foreground a group of thirteen men man a crammed and crowded lifeboat. The painting is particularly lightly colored, fogged in light blues and purples showing signs of the calm after the storm, indicating a sense of safety rather than distress. The large swells of the ocean, however, indicate different. With the gunwales of the life boat close to the water and large waves close behind, the small boat is most likely doomed to the same fate as the larger boat in the distance. The specific choice of warmer colors and the inclusion of the rainbow disguise the danger of the natural landscape and instead falsely indicate a certain safety and control of the men in the lifeboat over the natural landscape.

The thirteen men within the ship allude to Jesus and the twelve disciples on the Sea of Galilee. In this biblical story, although the disciples are distressed because of the storm, Jesus remains asleep, his faith un-shook by natures forces. The men on the boat in the painting seem unfazed by the storm. A Jesus like figure appears confident standing near the bow of the boat. The close viewer recognizes that this confidence is misplaced for the boat will eventually crash.

 

Perhaps Aivazovsky is using the natural symbolism of the rainbow in the light colors and the allusion to Jesus on the Sea of Galilee to remind the viewer of our false sense of control over the natural environment, specifically the sea. Regardless of faith, the boat will crash, nature will win.