Bay of Naples 1845

Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky made this painting of the Bay of Naples with oil on canvas. In Aivazovsky’s time, painting with oils was a well-established, even academic, practice. But what makes this painting interesting is how Aivazovsky employed these methods to convey not just an image, but an experience. Look at the way he used delicate layers of paint to suggest the haze of the atmosphere. This isn't just about representation, it's about evoking a mood, a sense of place. The work involved in creating a large-scale oil painting like this is considerable. It's not just about technical skill, but about the artist's ability to capture the transient effects of light and atmosphere. In the end, this grand landscape involves a tremendous amount of material transformation. Ultimately, thinking about this painting through the lens of its making encourages us to look beyond the image and consider the artist's engagement with the materials and the world around him.