The Wrath of the Seas (Russian: Гнев морей) is an oil painting by the Russian marine painter Ivan Aivazovsky in 1886. The painting depicts a violent storm in the heart of the sea, just like Aivazovsky’s most famous previous paintings. The painting shows both the destruction of nature and its beauty. The painting is now kept in a private collection.
Ivan Aivazovsky painted the Ship at the Shore in the 1880’s, presumably in Feodosia.
What Fyodor Dostoevsky says about Aivazovsky’s painting “The Storm over Evpatoria” applies to the painting “Sea Fury”: “His storm is full of excitement and enduring beauty that astounds the spectator as he contemplates a real, living storm” and more: “In depicting the infinite variety of the storm, nothing can seem exaggerated.”
The canvas depicts a storm. Waves roll from the horizon and crash against the stones at the shore. A ship is visible in the distance. The storm wind inflates its sails, and ruffles the water surface forming waves. Through the clouds, the blue sky is visible, and it is a sign that the storm is going to end soon.
The artist used transparent silver-gray and green tones for this seascape.
The painting was painted in several stages. The main outline is made in large brushstrokes of medium thickness. Fine details are then depicted above the slightly touched up layer with a fade.
The foam of the waves is depicted as fine floating squiggles that often condense into variegated clusters (on brighter surfaces). The human figures are depicted in blue, emerald green, red and ocher brushstrokes in a general manner that depicts a shared enthusiasm for survival.
The Ship at the Shore seascape refers to the artist’s later period, when he used the improvisation method. The painter had a good visual memory and imagination. He regularly went ashore, watched the change in the sea and made sketches from nature. After that, returning to his workshop, he combined small sketches into a big picture.
Ivan Aivazovsky was born and grew up in Feodosia, on the shores of the Black Sea. He watched the sea throughout his life, so he loved to paint the water element in its various states. In total, he created several thousand paintings and sketches of sea. Most of all he was attracted by the theme of the storm, and ships fighting against the natural forces.
