“Seashore at night. At the lighthouse, ”Ayvazovsky – overview of the painting 
- Posted by Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky
- Museum: Aivazovsky Art Gallery (Fedosia)
- Year: 1837
Overview of the painting :
Coast of the sea at night. At the lighthouse – Aivazovsky. 1837. Oil on canvas. 58 x 81 cm
One of the earliest works of the feudosian collection of the artist and belongs to the student period when Aivazovsky studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. The picture was written in 1837.
The apparent influence of M. is still noticeable. N. Sparrow – the teacher and mentor of the future greatest painter: the sea is not so natural, as in subsequent works, sky, rather frightening, than realistic, and the details of the picture from the hag and the boat on the near plane to the sailing ships swaying in different directions at the horizon on the far side would be more suitable for the canvas, made in the genre of phantasmagoria.
It is still noticeable, however, this is not a blind imitation of the teacher, and far from imitation of painting samples, authoritative founders of the genre.
Aivazovsky set himself the task of conveying the futility of human existence (in the center of the picture is a human figure with arms extended towards the sea), as if sandwiched on both sides by water and air elements. Despite the fact that the plot of the picture unfolds at night, the moon did not rise so high above the horizon, and the lighthouse was still (or already?) does not burn.