Ivan Aivazovsky: the Greatest Painter of the Sea...Ever!
By Greg McGee
It is to paintings of the sea that we look in these increasingly arid days: its relentless swell, its sun flecked froth, its refulgent churn.
We're a contemporary art gallery. We LOVE edgy, innovative happenings, whether that involves Performance Art, neon lit slogans, and, at a push, installations (although be very, very careful with the latter).
But at the moment, we're all about the Paintings. Whether that's because of the distressing uncertainty of our choppy times or the small but sumptuous line of light on the horizon promising new beginnings, I'm not sure. But if I had to choose a seascape artist to help wrestle with the year 2020 and bring it back to us, rendered with some meaning, its absurd destructive energies trussed and petrified into paint, then it would be Ivan Aivazovsky.
We sell a LOT of seascapes to a lot of clients from all over the world. Our seascapes, whether they're from David Baumforth, Freya Horsley, or Patrick Smith, are gloriously vivid. But, by any standard, Ivan Aivavosky is the daddy of harnessing the briny, bitter, beauty of the sea. That is a fact of life.
Check his work when you can. It will alleviate what is turning out to be a year where it's harder and harder to zone in on that horizon and the new worlds it promises.
Greg McGee, October 2020