Marine painter Ivan (Hovhannes) Aivazovsky

Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, of Armenian origin, is one of the most celebrated painters of the 19th century. He was a world-renowned marine painter, most of whose works are devoted to the sea, and he is considered one of the greatest marine painters of all time.

He was born in 1817 in Feodosia into the family of the Armenian merchant Gevorg Aivazyan, and at baptism he was registered under the name Hovhannes. His ancestors came from Western Armenia and in the 18th century had moved to Galicia and then to other parts of Europe. Despite his world fame, Aivazovsky chose to live and work in his native Crimea.

The canvas shows a young man in dark clothes with a red neckerchief, his hand resting on the back of a chair.