Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky

Acquired by the present owner in Norway in the 1950s

Structural Condition The canvas has been lined and this is ensuring an even and secure structural support. Paint surface Inspection under ultra-violet light shows no sign of any retouching and while the upper varnish layers are even, ultra-violet light shows that there are still some areas with older varnish layers. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in very good and stable condition.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

The Galata Tower by Moonlight is among Aivazovsky's earliest views of Constantinople. Exceptionally detailed, beautifully balanced and lit with such sophistication that each distant tree, rooftop and sail adds another layer of depth to the canvas, it is an outstanding example of the high standards of which he was capable. It is likely that the offered lot is referenced by his biographer Nikolai Sobko, who notes that in 1845 Aivazovsky painted two views of Constantinople 'from the Golden Horn and from the Galata Tower side'.  Both were presented to Emperor Nicholas I in November that year at the behest of the President of the Academy. After this Aivazovsky was commissioned by the Emperor to paint views of four Black Sea ports, Sevastopol', Odessa, Feodosia and Kerch (see N.P.Sobko, Dictionary of Russian Artists, St Petersburg, 1893, vol.I, p.300).

Aivazovsky visited Constantinople several times over the course of his life and famously returned to the subject almost every year in his work. The present canvas however, was painted from his very first impressions of the city when he visited as a young man in April 1845 at the end of a tour of Asia Minor, the Aegean, the Levant and Troy with Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich. His next visit did not take place until 1857. Aivazovsky made dozens of sketches of the city at this time which he worked up into larger paintings in his Theodosia studio.  A number of these early Constantinople views were exhibited in Theodosia in the spring of 1846 (fig.1, Coffee-house by the Ortakӧy Mosque, Constantinople, 1846). Their brilliance was immediately apparent.  As Valentin Serov's father wrote 'I never even knew that he paints human figures so well; there is so much life everywhere, so much brilliance, and now there are no longer the exaggerations people previously held against him.... All in all I can't image there is any artist in the whole of Europe who surpasses Aivazovsky in this type of painting' (cited in G.Caffiero, I.Samarine, Seas, Cities and Dreams, p.42).

The present view encompassing the Galata Tower, Golden Horn and Bosphorus is taken from one of the highest points in the city, the Turkish equivalent perhaps of Moscow seen from the Sparrow Hills. On the northern shore of the Golden Horn, the medieval Galata Tower, also known as The Tower of Christ (Christea Turris), is one of Constantinople's most striking landmarks. Built by the Genoese in 1348, it formed an important part of the northernmost fortifications of their colony of Galata. Aivazovsky travelled extensively in Italy in the early 1840s and Neapolitan lighthouses and Genoese towers feature in several of his canvases from this period, so it is unsurprising that this landmark resonated with Aivazovsky and became the central structure for some of his panoramic views of Constantinople.

Aivazovsky experimented with this panorama soon after his return from his first trip, in Constantinople; Galata and the Golden Horn, 1846 (fig.2). It is a magnificent work taken from a slightly higher viewpoint, yet the balance of the composition is uneasy, the colossal oak tree and bucolic scene in the foreground competing with the tower on the left and cityscape beyond.  In the present work these tensions are resolved beautifully: the pine trees balance the tower without overpowering it; the figures populate the foreground without an air of theatricality, all but one with their backs to the viewer as though sharing in our admiration of the view. But it is arguably his dextrous use of moonlight which transforms this painting. The flashes of light on the domes and minarets of the Sultanahmet, Suleymaniye and Bayezit Mosques on the far peninsula mirror the white folds picked on the nearby onlookers' garments; the moonlight subtly divides the near shore into three distinct planes, while allowing the far shore to reflect in the channel between; the opaque sails to the left glint white while those moored at the nearby Pera shore are elegant and translucent.  

What was it about the Ottoman capital which so captivated Aivazovsky and inspired some of his greatest works? The cultural and economic ties between Theodosia and Constantinople are often cited in explanation, the commercial possibilities and the large Armenian communities of both cities - all undeniably true.  But in his best views of the city, Constantinople, Moonlit view from Eyüp, 1874 (fig.3) or Moonrise over the Golden Horn (lot 10 in the present sale), the tranquility, the warmth of light and the magnificence of the panorama speak for themselves. For an artist who had mastered the complex nuances of dawn and dusk light over its several hills and shorelines, Constantinople would always be an irresistible subject with endless possibilities, each new viewpoint an entirely fresh perspective.