Exhibition of paintings by prominent Armenian marinist Hovhannes Aivazovsky opens in Riga

11 October, 2019

On October 11, Riga Bourse Museum of Arts hosted the opening ceremony of the exhibition titled “Aivazovsky: The Pride of Armenian People” featuring paintings of the greatest Armenian marinist Hovhannes Aivazovsky, which was organized by the Riga Bourse Museum of Arts and the Armenian Community organization in Latvia headed by Alexander Geroyan.

Within the frames of 3 months-long exhibition “Metaphysics of light”, Riga Bourse Museum of Arts will display 24 paintings of the genius painter collected from the Latvian, Estonian and Ukrainian museums (Tallinn, Tartu, Narva, Odesa, Riga), as well as from the private collection in Riga.

At the official opening of the exhibition, Armenian Ambassador to Latvia Tigran Mkrtchyan noted that the exhibition is unique in its kind, as 24 paintings of Ayvazovsky covering different styles and collected from three countries of the Eastern Europe are exhibited together.

Ambassador Mkrtchyan added that even though Ayvazovsky, being the most eminent master of the seascape art, is deservedly considered as the pride of Armenian people, nevertheless his art is universal and has neither borders nor nationalities.

The Ambassador pointed out the paintings that elicit the most interest in the exhibition, i. e. ”View of Vesuvius the day before the eruption", that is on display for the first time since the restoration, and “Fog on the Sea”, which Aivazovsky gifted to Riga after his solo exhibition in 1886.

After the official opening, Alexander Geronyan introduced Ayvazovsky's work and life story, and Latvian Armenologist Valda Salmiņa spoke about Ayvazovsky's connections with Latvia. At the end of the event Armenian poetry and music were presented and a reception was held.

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