The Black Sea (A Storm Begins)

Ivan Aivazovsky

The Black Sea (A Storm Begins) (Ivan Aivazovsky) — The Black Sea (A Storm Begins) · Ivan Aivazovsky · 1881.

Size2:3 ratio

Frame

Unframed at this size — framing is available on 16×24 and 24×36.

$59Unframed print · made to order

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Giclée-printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper

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About this work

Artist: Ivan Aivazovsky (1817–1900)
Year: 1881
Medium: Oil on canvas
Original size: 149 × 208 cm
Collection: State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Movement: Romanticism

Nothing but water and sky: a grey-green sea rising in long swells under a bank of cloud, with a single tiny sail on the horizon and a thin band of light where the weather is clearing. Aivazovsky painted it in 1881, in his sixties, and its full Russian title explains that a storm is beginning to rise on the Black Sea. After a career of shipwrecks, battles and sunsets, this is one of his most restrained works, with no drama beyond the weather itself, and it was admired by his contemporaries for that reason; the painter Ivan Kramskoi called it one of the grandest pictures he knew. Aivazovsky lived at Feodosia on the Crimean coast and knew this sea all his life. The canvas is in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.

Details & materials

• Restored in-house from the original painting — cleaned and colour-trued at museum resolution • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 18×12, 24×16 in • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Produced in 2–4 business days, then shipped from the facility nearest you. Delivery is typically 3–6 business days (US/UK/EU) and 5–12 worldwide. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole painting, or a crop?

The whole work, uncropped. The image fills the print at the painting's own proportions; nothing is trimmed to fit a frame.

Is The Black Sea (A Storm Begins to Rise on the Black Sea) in the public domain?

Yes. Ivan Aivazovsky (1817–1900) died more than 70 years ago and the work was published before 1929, so the painting itself is public domain. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of the original, which is held by State Tretyakov Gallery.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 12×18, 16×24 and 24×36 inches; the two larger sizes are also offered framed. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was The Black Sea (A Storm Begins to Rise on the Black Sea) painted, and in what medium?

The Black Sea (A Storm Begins to Rise on the Black Sea) dates from 1881 and was made in oil on canvas; the original measures 149 × 208 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

For a standard three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 24×36 inches reads as a single statement piece; 16×24 suits a narrower wall or a pairing. The print's proportions follow the original, so a landscape-format painting is wider than it is tall.

About this design

The Black Sea (A Storm Begins) (Ivan Aivazovsky) — The Black Sea (A Storm Begins) · Ivan Aivazovsky · 1881. This is a fine-art reproduction of a public-domain masterwork, shown whole and uncropped on a gallery ground, printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Three sizes (12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in); the 16×24 and 24×36 are also offered framed. Part of the Madten Fine Art Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

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The Madten promise

Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in ~4–8 business days.

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