On the roads 1874

Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, sometime in the 19th century, captured this coastal scene in oil paint. Aivazovsky, famed for his marine paintings, deftly uses layers of diluted oil to capture the essence of light reflecting off the water's surface. The transparency of the medium allows for subtle gradations of color. The painting reflects the intersection of art and industry. The detailed depiction of the ships, for instance, highlights the period's dependence on maritime transport and trade. The labor involved in shipbuilding and sailing is subtly referenced, even though the human figures in this painting are small. Consider also the pigments themselves. The sourcing of the blues, the whites, the ochres, each require a global infrastructure of trade and extraction. In the end, this work reminds us that even the most ethereal atmospheric effects are grounded in a complex, material reality.