• Pin It
• Share on Tumblr
• 
• 

• Pushkin and Countess Raevskaya by the Sea near Gurzuf and Partenit

• Ivan Aivazovsky

• Standard size
  We offer original aspect ratio sizes
• Price
• Qty

• If listed sizes are not in proportion to the original, don't worry, just choose which size is similar to what you want, we can offer oil paintings in a suitable size, painted in proportion to the original.
• If you would like the standard size, please let us know. Need a Custom Size?
• 

• 1886
  Oil on canvas
  80 x 104 cm.,(31 1/2 x 41 in.)
  
  Alexander Pushkin and Ivan Aivazovsky met in September 1836 at the autumn exhibition of the Academy of Arts in St Petersburg, where praise from the famous poet left a lasting impression on the nineteen year-old artist: "From that moment on my favourite poet became the object of my thoughts and source of inspiration". Only a few months later Pushkin was tragically killed in a duel. His death stunned the country; beatified by Russian artists, composers and writers for decades to come, Pushkin's iconic status was comparable to Byron's and became deeply embedded in the national psyche.
  
  In the 1880's, Aivazovsky chose to pay his tribute to Pushkin by devoting an entire cycle of pictures which depict the poet during his period of exile in the Crimea (fig.1). In the offered work the scale of the figures in the foreground accentuates the grandiose landscape behind, yet this is painted with characteristic subtlety such that it complements rather than diminishes the stature of the poet; the sun does not sear down on its victims as it does in other paintings but delicately illuminates the romantic scene below. The lady in question is one of the four daughters of General Nikolai Raevsky, with whom Pushkin stayed with in Gurzuf for three weeks in the summer of 1820 during which he wrote some of his most famous romantic poems including The Fountain of Bakhchiserai (fig.2).
  
  Exactly which daughter captured the poet's heart and became his muse is disputed, though there is evidence to suggest that it may have been Maria who would later marry the prominent Decembrist Prince Sergei Volkonsky and follow him into exile to Siberia. Pushkin's infatuation for her is implied in the dedication of the poem Poltava, and is supported by an episode from Maria's memoirs which recalls a family journey to the mineral springs of the Caucasus not far from Taganrog, when the party first caught sight of the sea from their carriage and rushed down to look at the waves: "Unaware that we were travelling with a poet, I began to chase after the waves for fun and then run back before they could catch me. Pushkin thought it such a pretty scene that he praised my childish pranks in a poem; I was only fifteen"
  
  This delightful vignette was later incorporated into what is arguably Pushkin's greatest poem, Eugene Onegin:
  
  On the seashore, with storm impending,
  how envious was I of the waves
  each in tumultuous turn descending
  to lie down at her feet like slaves! I
  longed, like every breaker hissing,
  to smother her dear feet with kissing.
  No, never in the hottest fire
  of boiling youth did I desire
  with any torture so exquisite
  to kiss Armida's lips, or seek
  the flaming roses of a cheek,
  or languid bosoms; and no visit
  of raging passion's surge and roll
  ever so roughly rocked my soul!

  Why settle for a paper print when you can add sophistication to your rooms with a high quality 100% hand-painted oil painting on canvas at wholesale price? Order this beautiful oil painting today! that's a great way to impress friends, neighbors and clients alike.

• 100% hand-painted oil painting on artist grade canvas. No printing or digital imaging techniques are used.
• Additional 2 inch blank border around the edge.
• No middle people, directly ship to the world.
• In stock items ship immediately, usually ships in 3 to 10 days.
• You can order any painting in any size as your requests.
• $12.95 shipping charge for small size (e.g., size <= 20 x 24 in).
• The cheapest shipping rate from DHL, UPS, USPS, etc.
• Canvas stretched on wood bars for free.
  - Need special frame for oil painting? Please contact us.
• Send you a digital copy via email for your approval before shipping.
• 45-day Satisfaction Guaranteed and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.

Other paintings by Ivan Aivazovsky:

Portrait of the Artist's Wife Anna Burnazyan

Portrait of Vice Admiral M.P. Lazarev

Pushkin and Raevskaya in Gurzuf

Pushkin at the Top of the Ai-Petri Mountain at Sunrise