Pushkin and Countess Raevskaya by the Sea near Gurzuf and Partenit by Ivan Aivazovsky

Pushkin and Countess Raevskaya by the Sea near Gurzuf and Partenit - Ivan Aivazovsky - Dining Room Wall Art

Product Overview

Nothing softens a dining room like a painted surface. Pushkin and Countess Raevskaya by the Sea near Gurzuf and Partenit by Ivan Aivazovsky arrives as a hand painted oil painting on canvas, offering the fine art detail, soft gradients, and tactile finish that fine art oil painting shoppers look for.

The Story Behind the Painting

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!

As dining room wall art, the piece pairs naturally with other romantic wall art and with warm neutrals, timber, and soft natural light.

Materials & Craftsmanship

Materials matter for romantic wall decor. That is why this piece is built on artist-grade canvas with lightfast oil colors, applied by hand rather than output from a printer, and sealed for long-term display.

Product Details

• Genuine hand painted oil painting on premium artist canvas; no printing or digital imaging is used.
• Edges include an additional 2-inch blank allowance, ideal for gallery wrapping or framing.
• We dispatch worldwide ourselves, so there are no middlemen in the chain.
• Available canvas sizes for this hand painted oil painting: 20 X 24 in, 24 X 36 in, 30 X 40 in, 36 X 48 in, 48 X 72 in.
• Custom sizes available: order this painting in your preferred dimensions.
• Multiple low-cost carriers available, including DHL, UPS, FedEx and USPS.
• We stretch your canvas onto wooden bars at no extra charge, and can arrange custom framing.
• Before dispatch we email a digital proof so you can approve the finished canvas.

Where to Hang It

Style it over a fireplace, behind a reading chair, or along a staircase. Wherever it goes, this romantic oil painting wall decor adds the layered color that only a hand painted canvas provides.

Shipping & Guarantee

Whether the search term is fine art oil painting, dining room wall art, or romantic oil painting wall decor, this hand painted canvas delivers the same thing: a real painted surface, made to your chosen dimensions.