Art Chowder January | February 2018, Issue 13 | Page 38

N
ot all great Russian artists
were pushing the envelope. The
marine painter Ivan Aivazovsky
(1817-1900) was a thoroughgoing
academician, whose style has
usually been termed Romantic,
though perhaps bordering on
Realism. The power and poetry
of his seascapes arguably rank
him among the greatest maritime
painters of all time. During his
life he became one of the most
prominent artists of the century,
not only in Russia but abroad.
His many international honors
included prestigious awards from
Poland, to the Ottoman Empire,
and he was the first Russian to
receive the French Legion of
Honor.
Konstantin Makovsky (1839-
1915), a founding member of
the Itinerants, was an academic
historical painter whose subjects
included representations of an
idealized Russian past. It was
stunning to see the very large
Russian Bride’s Attire in San
Francisco some 30 years ago, just
after it was cleaned and brought
out of storage. Beautifully
painted, emotionally charged,
and compositionally brilliant, the
title seems inadequate. Here are
depicted ages of woman and of
man, from the little boy chewing
on his cookie beside his mother
on the bottom left, to the groom
who can’t wait to see his bride,
but is told he’s not allowed in
the chamber by some elder aunt,
while the dignified, matronly
grandmother dresses the beautiful
bride’s raven hair. The picture
exudes a kind of poetic mystery.
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ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE
Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900)
Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900)
The Ninth Wave
1850
oil on canvas
87 x 130.71”
Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
Konstantin Makovsky (1839-1915)
Konstantin Makovsky (1839-1915)
The Russian Bride’s Attire
1889
oil on canvas
110 x 147”
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco