Painting by Aivazovsky “Ice mountains in Antarctica”


The painting “Ice mountains in Antarctica” was written by IK Aivazovsky in 1870. The development of democratic ideas, critical realism in Russian art and painting had an impact on the work of the great seascapes painter. In place of the romantic mood of the painter came a more objective view of the landscape.

“Ice Mountains in Antarctica” is the world’s first picture depicting polar ice. Despite the fact that this work is a vivid example of a “composed” picture, all the details in it are written absolutely accurately.

The plot for the picture is the discovery of Antarctica by the expedition of F. Bellingshausen in 1820. In the work of the painter memories of Admiral M. Lazarev (expedition member) were useful, with which Aivazovsky was friendly in his youth.

On the canvas – a picture of the Antarctic summer. Polar night. We see a ship standing calmly in the coastal bay of the newly opened mainland. Such a plot gives

the picture a sense of peace.

However, in the landscape itself there is nothing fixed: light colored clouds flew across the sky, clear water splashed, and the iceberg drifts slowly near the horizon line.

An unusually beautiful color scale, conveying the effect of sparkling huge blocks of ice, informs the picture of a joyful and solemn sound. The freshness of colors fascinates. The artist managed to show on the canvas the true harmony of water, ice and the vast, pinkish-lilac Antarctic sky stretching over them.

The canvas “Ice Mountains in Antarctica” not only has remarkable artistic merit, but it also has immense cognitive value.

In addition to describing the picture of IK Aivazovsky’s “Ice Mountains in Antarctica,” many other descriptions of paintings by various artists have been collected on our website. which can be used both in preparation for writing essays on the picture, and simply for a more complete familiarization with the works of famous masters of the past.


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Painting by Aivazovsky “Ice mountains in Antarctica”