120. Ecole de Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (Feodosia 1817-1900) Vue de Yalta porte une signature et une date en cyrillique '1887' (en bas à droite) huile sur toile bears a signature and date '1887' (lower right) oil on canvas 46 x 69cm (18 1/8 x 27 3/16in). Provenance Acquired by the parents of the present owner Thence by descent Private collection, France The great marine painter Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, widely regarded as the pre-eminent master of seascapes, inspired countless students and followers during his lifetime. In 1865, in his native city of Feodosia in Crimea, he founded an art workshop that soon evolved into a fully-fledged school of painting. Unlike the rigid academic training prevalent in the Russian Empire at the time, Aivazovsky's school offered a distinctly different approach, one that placed emphasis on the direct observation of nature. At the heart of Aivazovsky's teaching philosophy was the belief that true artistry lies not in the mechanical reproduction of reality, but in the emotional and perceptual interpretation of it. He urged his students to study nature in all its moods - its light, movement and rhythm, and to internalise these impressions before expressing them on canvas. His method encouraged young painters to paint not merely what they saw, but what they felt. The School of Aivazovsky became a cradle of marine art in the region and attracted aspiring painters from across the world. Under the master's guidance, they developed a deep sensitivity to the seascape and learned to convey the boundless energy of the sea with both technical skill and emotional resonance. The school laid the groundwork for an entire generation of marine artists, and its influence extended well beyond Crimea. The present work, attributed to the School of Aivazovsky, bears all the hallmarks of the master's genius. The subject matter, the treatment of colour and light, and the beloved Crimean landscape - all these elements are quintessentially Aivazovskian. The painting vividly expresses the beauty of nature and the radiant play of light, while simultaneously conveying the formidable power of the sea and its dominance over the frailty of man. The sea in this painting is alive - it breathes, it moves. The artist has rendered it with remarkable mastery, using a wide range of blues: from the nearly black, indigo depths to the transparent turquoise that laps at the shore. The play of light is particularly virtuosic. In the background, the sea appears dark and threatening, suggesting danger or loss, while the foreground is illuminated by soft highlights, a luminous glimmer that evokes hope, as though a ray of salvation has found a lone survivor of a shipwreck. The composition is carefully structured to emphasise the vastness and majesty of nature. The smallness of man is not just a motif but a philosophy. In this, the painting captures a romantic ideal that was central to Aivazovsky's vision: the sea as both muse and master, eternally powerful and ineffably beautiful.