Feodosia Art Gallery named after I.K. Aivazovsky

Plan
Theme: Feodosia Art Gallery named after I. K. Aivazovsky Goal: Give visitors a tour of the Aivozovsky Gallery, tell them about the paintings and artists represented there, as well as the history of the gallery. Tell them about the history of the gallery.
Tasks: 1. To tell about history of the gallery and the artists whose work is featured in the gallery's exhibitions.
2. To formulate an idea of the gallery's importance in the history of the city of Feodosia and the life of Aivozovsky. To tell more about the other artists represented there.
3. To broaden visitors' horizons.

Introduction
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to downtown Feodosia.
My name is Isabella and I am your guide for today.
In the centre of the city on this promenade, stands the Feodosia Art Gallery named after I. K. Aivazovsky. Yes on the quay, because the gallery is located in one of the buildings of Aivozovsky's dacha. And as the artist was a painter and painted seascapes. He wanted to have a view of the sea from the windows of his dacha and also the workshop where he worked in the summer. Quite a famous place. And the face of this city. When visitors think of Feodosia this gallery is one of the first things that come to mind.
Today we will visit it and try to study its history and exhibits.
Please follow me!

1. History of the gallery
The first exhibition of 49 works was opened in 1845 in part of the vast house owned by Ivan Aivazovsky himself. In 1880 another exhibition hall designed by the artist was added to it. The gallery became the first museum of one artist on the territory of Russian Empire. After the death of the artist in 1900 the gallery was given to the artist's home town in his will. In 1922 it became a state museum. In the gallery there is a collection of about 12 thousand marine works, including the world's largest collection of works by Ivan Aivazovsky (416 works). The most famous among the works on display are "Mercury attacked by two Turkish ships", "Sevastopol Raid", "Maria ship on the North Sea", "Saint George's Monastery", "Sea. Koktebel", as well as the largest painting by Aivazovsky "From the calm to the storm", which has a size of 212 by 708 cm.
The exposition of the gallery introduces the works of Ivan Aivazovsky, the history of his family and the history of the gallery itself. In the safe-room valuable items of Aivazovsky's family are exhibited.

History of the gallery

History of the gallery
In 1922, the building was renovated. On December 17, after an eight-year interval, the gallery once again received visitors as a state museum of the USSR. The first director of Aivazovsky Gallery was the artist and art expert Gerasim Afanasievich Magula. He organized collection of art treasures in Feodosia and its region, which had been left by emigrants, and on their basis he created Museum of Art treasures in the living rooms of the building which existed till 1925; the visitors could see the works of applied art (porcelain, silverware), antique furniture and weapons. In 1923, N.S. Barsamov became the gallery director.
In 1930 a monument to Aivazovsky, made by artist I. Gintsburg, with the inscription "Feodosia to Aivazovsky", was placed in front of the gallery.
During the fascist occupation of the Crimea, the Picture Gallery was evacuated to Yerevan through the heroic efforts of its director, Nikolai Barsamov and his wife Sophia Barsamova. The pictures were first transported from Feodosia to Novorossiysk, and from there to Krasnodar. There an order was received to take the paintings to Stalingrad. Having violated the order, Nikolai Stepanovich, having previously secured an invitation from Armenia, decides to take the paintings to Yerevan. While the paintings were in Krasnodar, an exhibition was held there.

History of the gallery

History of the gallery
Later exhibitions were organized in Yerevan itself. In November 1944, the art gallery was returned to Feodosia. There had been no losses during the evacuation
С. A. Barsamova left her memories of the last days of the evacuation: "We were seeing off very touching. Commandant of the Yerevan gallery Pashik invited all museum workers to the Barsamovs' farewell party. Never before or later have we been seen off with such warmth and cordiality. After receiving a carriage that accommodated our boxes, after that we were fed with food rations for a year, after getting medicine in case of illness, we bade farewell to kind people, hospitable Yerevan and started our way back "[3].

2 Artists at Aivazovsky Gallery
Currently, the gallery has collected unique works of maritime painting, graphics, archival documents and photographic documents, memorial items and objects of decorative and applied art. In 2014, their total number about 11 thousand exhibits, including 417 works by Ivan K. Aivazovsky (the world's largest collection of his works), students and grandchildren Ivan K. Aivazovsky, Western European marine painters XVII-XIX centuries., the artists of south-eastern Crimea - LF Lagorio, MP Latry (about 500 works), KF Bogaevsky, MA Voloshin, NS Barsamov, contemporary artists [4].

Artists at Aivazovsky Gallery
1. Of course, Aivozovsky himself.
During his long life Aivazovsky created around 6,000 works. He worked practically every day. By the end of the 40s his unique creative method had taken shape. His excellent visual memory and inexhaustible imagination enabled him not to paint from nature, but to improvise. Ivan Konstantinovich wrote about it in his "Autobiography": "A painter only copying nature becomes its slave, bound hand and foot... Motions of living elements are elusive for a brush: it is unthinkable to write lightning, a gust of wind, a splash of a wave from nature... A painting's plot is composed in my memory, like the plot of a poem in a poet's hand; having made a sketch on a scrap of paper, I start working and do not move from the canvas until I write on it with my brush".
As a rule, Aivazovsky worked easily and enthusiastically, he could embody his ideas with amazing freedom. Contemporaries were particularly struck by the way he created small paintings, improvising, without prior preparatory drawings. Writer V.S. Krivenko who stayed with him described his impressions: "During our visit Ivan Konstantinovich was working on a large canvas in the gallery. In a wide picturesque coat, with a palette and brush in hand, with young, shining eyes fixed on the animating canvas, the artist was positively spectacular... By the lightness, apparent ease, by a contented expression on his face, one could safely say that such work is a true pleasure».

Of course, Aivozovsky himself

Artists at Aivazovsky Gallery
In his early years Ivan Aivazovsky as a painter mostly depicted the sea - calm, tranquil. I. K. Aivazovsky was endowed with the gift of poetic thinking, and it was especially reflected in his night marinas. There were no technical obstacles for Aivazovsky; the artist portrayed the moon and the effects of moonlight - its sparkling sheen on the ripples of waves or the dazzling shining moon track on the calm surface of the sea. In such paintings, one is struck by the feeling of remarkable tranquillity, harmony and eternity of nature. St. George's Monastery" (1846) belongs to such paintings. The simplicity of its subject conceals a scrupulously precise and meticulous composition, thanks to which the artist conveys the amazing effect of the moon's moving when the work is viewed from different sides.
In the middle of the 19th century realism replaced romanticism in Russian art, a style with different socio-cultural references and a different concept of perception of nature. I. K. Aivazovsky was one of the few artists who remained faithful to the ideals of Romanticism until the end of his life.

Of course, Aivozovsky himself

Burial place of Ivan Aivazovsky

Artists at Aivazovsky Gallery
2. Konstantin Feodorovich Bogayevsky is a painter, watercolourist, lithographer and acknowledged master of historical landscapes. His creativity is closely connected with the ancient land of the eastern Crimea, his native town Feodosia. He deeply felt and understood the sparse and unique beauty of these places, and became, in M.A. Voloshin's figurative expression, "the voice of this ancient land. He was born on January 12 (24), 1872 in Feodosiya. In his childhood, his favourite activity was drawing, and his first art teacher was a Feodosia painter A.I. Fessler, the famous landscape painter and student of I.K. Aivazovsky. At the same time, the budding artist visited the workshop of the famous marine painter, where, according to his recollections, he "sketched with pencil sea views".

Artists at Aivazovsky Gallery
In 1891, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. Of the six years he spent there, the most fruitful for him were those of his studies with A.I. Kuindzhi, who, from 1894, was head of the landscape workshop. In the studio of Kwindzhi Bogayevsky acquired not only the teacher he needed but also loyal friends and like-minded people among his other students. All of them were remarkable personalities and left a bright trace in the history of Russian landscape painting. Kuindzhi managed to educate a brilliant pleiad of landscapers. Here are the names of some of them: A. Rylov, N. Roerich, V. Purvit, F. Ruschits, A. Borisov, V. Zarubin, E. Stolitsa, M. Latri. Life in the studio of Quindzhi was intense and bright. The idea of close communication and joint work bore brilliant fruit: all of Quindzhi's students performed brilliantly in their final examinations at the Academy. One journalist wrote: "So many, so well painted landscapes have not been so far in any of the previous competitions.
At the end of April 1897, Kuindzhi took everyone abroad at his own expense. Bogaevsky first visited galleries in Berlin, Dresden and Paris.

Artists at Aivazovsky Gallery
Returning to Feodosia, he, as correctly noted M.A. Voloshin, "became the voice" of the ancient Crimean land, "... became him naturally, inevitably and unconsciously, as soon as he found his way to the art. K.F. Bogayevsky took part in exhibitions of the popular creative associations "Moscow Fellowship of Artists", "Union of Russian Artists" and "World of Art". In 1911-1912, the artist painted 3 panels for the mansion of Z. Morozova in Moscow. In the late 30s and early 40s he created the most significant romantic and philosophically reinterpreted works, which were the results of his search of the collective image of the Crimean historical landscape. They are marked by the wholeness of color and panoramic composition, and are inherent in the epic narrative and monumentality. At that time he wrote: "In my compositions I am trying to convey the image of this land - majestic and beautiful, solemn and sad. This landscape full of big historical past with its peculiar rhythm of mountains, tense folds of hills, bearing somewhat stern character, serves as an inexhaustible source for me".
The beginning of the Great Patriotic War caught Bogayevsky in Feodosiya.

Artists at Aivazovsky Gallery
He did not leave his native city and continued his work. The artist tragically died during a bombing in Feodosia on February 17, 1943
There are 504 works of K.F. Bogayevsky (paintings and graphics) in the collection of the Feodosiya Gallery. This is the world's largest collection of works by the artist. In the 1990s, a memorial corner of K.F. Bogayevsky was created, where personal belongings of the artist and his family are displayed: a sofa and a chair from the studio of K.F. Bogayevsky, a craft table of Z.G. Bogayevskaya, the artist's wife.

Konstantin Feodorovich Bogayevsky

Artists at Aivazovsky Gallery
3. Poet, artist, translator, critic M.A. Voloshin was born on 16 (28) May 1877 in Kiev in the family of a lawyer. His interest in creativity was awakened early. He studied at Moscow and Feodosiya gymnasiums, then at Moscow University (1897-1899) in the Faculty of Law, but was expelled for participation in student unrests.
When Voloshin was asked who he was: a poet or an artist, he said: "Of course, a poet and an artist. Indeed, painting was one of his main passions, and, although he did not study anywhere, he mastered painting techniques perfectly, and followed a long path of artistic self-education.
This path began in Paris, where Voloshin arrived in 1901. In the studio of the artist E.S. Kruglikova, in life classes at the Kolarossi Academy, in the studio of Whistler and Steinlen, he grasps the laws of perspective and composition, masters the various techniques of painting and drawing. During the entire period of his life abroad, M.A. Voloshin never parted with his sketch-book and pencils, in spite of his other workload - art and literary criticism. Currently Voloshin's works are included in various museum collections (there are 127 works in the Feodosiya Gallery) and occupy a worthy place among other works of artists of the late 19th - early 20th centuries.

M.A. Voloshin

Artists at Aivazovsky Gallery
Mikhail Pelopidovich Latri (1875-1941) was a talented painter, graphic artist and ceramist. The elder grandson of I.K. Aivazovsky, son of his daughter Elena Ivanovna and Pelopid Savvich Latri, he was born in Odessa in 1875.
His childhood years passed in Yalta and in Feodosia, in the house of his grandfather. After he graduated from Odessa Gymnasium in 1896, he entered St. Petersburg Academy of Arts in the landscape class of A. I. Kuindzhi. I. Kuindzhi. In 1897, after Quindzhi left the Academy, he interrupted his studies and went abroad.
In 1897-1899, he travelled to Greece, Germany and Italy. He studied in Munich at S. Hollosi and Ferri-Schmidt. He returned to St. Petersburg and continued his studies at the Academy of Arts (landscape class of A.A. Kiselev), graduating with the title of artist for his picture "Autumn Wind". He worked in oil, tempera, watercolor, many
paintings were devoted to Crimea, he painted architectural and seascapes.

Artists at Aivazovsky Gallery
Since 1902, he participated in exhibitions of the Academy of Arts, Vienna Secession, a member of the founder and exhibitor of the New Society of artists, exhibited his works at exhibitions "World of Art", in the salon of V.I. Izdebsky (1909-1910), the avant-garde exhibition "1915" in Moscow, etc.
Latry's works are in many museum collections, including the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum and the Louvre. The Feodosia Aivazovsky Art Gallery has the largest collection (702 works, including 464 paintings, 188 graphic works and 50 ceramics).

Mikhail Pelopidovich Latri

Artists at Aivazovsky Gallery
5. Barsamov Nikolai Stepanovich (1892-1976) - painter, teacher, researcher of I.K. Aivazovsky, author of publications about Crimean artists, honoured cultural worker of Ukraine, honorary citizen of Feodosiya. She is also an honorary citizen of Feodosiya.
Born in Tbilisi. Graduated from the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1918). Worked as a teacher of drawing in the cities of Izyum, Samara, the Chelyabinsk region, an artist retoucher in Moscow. Then he moved to Crimea. In 1923-1962, he worked as director of the Feodosiya Art Gallery. He also worked as a lifelong academic adviser to the Aivazovsky Gallery in Feodosiya. He did a lot to enrich museum collections and to popularize the works of Aivazovsky. N.S.Barsamov and his wife S.A.Barsamova, the main curator, played a significant role in saving the masterpieces of the Gallery during the years of the Great Patriotic War. They were the ones who accompanied the masterpieces of the Gallery to Yerevan. On April 13, 1944 Theodosia was liberated from Nazi invaders and in November, the collections of the Gallery were brought back home. After the repairs and restoration, the Gallery was once again welcoming guests.

Artists at Aivazovsky Gallery
Residents of Feodosia are grateful to Barsamov for his work in enriching the collection, especially for the acquisition of Aivazovsky paintings from the 1840s, 1850s, 1860s and 1870s; they are grateful for saving the collection during the Second World War and for his active research and teaching activities.

. Barsamov Nikolai Stepanovich

3. The importance of the Aivozovsky Gallery and the personality of Aivozovsky, for the city of Feodosia
The main "visiting card" of modern life of Feodosia is its famous railway, which was built along the whole embankment of the city in 1892. Many vacationers don't like this achievement of civilisation very much, but once this railway became a symbol of progress, giving joy to its initiator and the city's father, the famous artist Ivan Aivazovsky, leading the city to economic prosperity. Aivazovsky, a resident and a great patriot of Feodosia, loved listening to the clatter of the wheels, enjoying his morning tea on the balcony of his spacious villa, erected near the sea.
Thanks to Ivan Konstantinovich, a water pipeline of a total length of 25 km appeared in the city, which had always felt an acute shortage of fresh water. According to Chekhov, before that the air here because of the heat was "incredibly hard, like a binder».

The importance of the Aivozovsky Gallery and the personality of Aivozovsky, for the city of Feodosia
Aivazovsky probably owes his superb organisational skills to his Armenian origins. He loved to travel: he travelled all over Europe, Russia, America, Africa and the Middle East, but he never went to Armenia. The painter signed his works Ayvazyan, Gaivazovsky (real surname) and Guy. In addition, he painted small pictures - calligraphic capitals of his own surname, framed them and sold them cheaply to all comers. Because many could not buy expensive large canvases of the maestro.
During his life Ayvazovsky painted 6 thousand pictures.
The artist bequeathed the building of the art gallery he created and 146 paintings in it to his beloved city. The National Picture Gallery of Aivazovsky is one of the oldest museums in the country. Nowadays the collection of the pictures includes about 400 works. In addition, the museum's vault contains a mystical and unique work entitled 'On the Death of Alexander III'. The painting is not displayed in ordinary rooms and cannot be photographed or filmed. Museum workers say that very often people are shocked when they see the painting.

The importance of the Aivozovsky Gallery and the personality of Aivozovsky, for the city of Feodosia

Conclusion
Conclusion Our tour has come to an end. And to sum up, I would like to say The Feodosia Art Gallery named after I. K. Aivazovsky is very important for tourist map of Crimea and Feodosia in particular.
It is the place with unique atmosphere and history.
The story of one great artist's life and his ambition to make the city he lived in better.
The gallery serves as a reminder and an example for all Feodosia residents and visitors to the city.
A reminder of the art and work of a great artist.
And an example of love for their hometown.
And not only love but also desire to make this city better.
Thanks that were with me today!
I will be glad to see you again in our city.