Crimea in the paintings of Russian artists (PICS)

1. Ivan Aivazovsky. ‘Night in Gurzuf’, 1891

One of the world's most famous marinists was born in Feodosia and spent most of his life there. He devoted a huge amount of his works to Crimea and the sea in his paintings always looks realistic. 

2. Ivan Aivazovsky. ‘Evening in Crimea. Yalta’, 1848

Although Aivazovsky is better known for his battle scenes, he also has romantic landscapes. He had a special love for Yalta: the color of this southern city enchanted the artist. 

3. Vasily Surikov. ‘Landscape with Foros Church of the Resurrection of Christ’, 1908

Surikov saw Crimea in bright, joyful colors. He first visited the peninsula in 1907 and then traveled the entire coast. In his paintings, you can see numerous sun-drenched mountain paths and the blue sea. 

4. Vasily Surikov. ‘Rocks in Simeiz’, 1907-1915

Surikov's Crimean series includes about 40 works. There are only a few portraits and sketches from life and the rest are landscapes. The most famous works from this series are ‘Landscape with Foros Church’ and ‘Rocks in Simeiz’.

5. Arkhip Kuindzhi. ‘Ai-Petri. Crimea’, 1890s

Kuindzhi dreamed of studying with Aivazovsky and first visited Crimea as a teenager, when he was only 14. At that time, Aivazovsky advised him to study in St. Petersburg, saying that he could not personally teach him. However, Kuindzhi liked the Crimean nature so much that he, being already an established artist, bought an estate there and often stayed there with his students. 

6. Arkhip Kuindzhi. ‘The sea. Crimea’, 1890

Kuindzhi also devoted several dozens of sketches to Crimea - both the mountainous parts of the peninsula and views of the coast. He paid special attention to light: in his paintings, one can see the shining moon, the twilight and the sun setting. 

7. Iosif Krachkovsky. ‘Crimean Landscape’, 1912

Artist Krachkovsky studied at the Academy of Fine Arts under renowned landscape painter Mikhail Klodt and excelled in his craft so much that he was sent at state expense to continue his studies in Europe. He was a member of the Kuindzhi Society of Artists, which supported talented painters. 

He visited the peninsula in the late 1890s, visiting Livadia and Massandra. Landscapes of these places decorated the walls of the royal Livadia Palace. 

Krachkovsky painted several thousand canvases, but his most famous works were spring landscapes of Crimea. 

8. Ivan Shishkin. ‘From the vicinity of Gurzuf’, 1879

Shishkin's name is usually associated with forest landscapes, but he also has several sketches dedicated to Crimea. He visited it in 1879 with his family and colleagues. They spent the summer there, visiting seaside resorts and climbing Mount Ai-Petri. 

9. Konstantin Korovin. ‘Balcony in the Crimea’, 1910 

Konstantin Korovin, having visited Crimea once in 1904, fell in love with these places so much that he built himself a dacha in Gurzuf. There, he painted landscapes, scenes of everyday life and portraits. 

10. Alexander Kuprin. ‘Bakhchisarai. Twilight’, 1928

Soviet artist Alexander Kuprin left for Crimea in the 1920s on the advice of doctors. He lived in a dacha overlooking Yalta and Mount Ai-Petri, painting both landscapes and people who appeared on the streets. 

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