45. Dubrovnik Bay [1939. - 1940.]

Alexis Hanzen was born in Odessa, Ukraine, where he spent his childhood and youth, near the shore of the Black Sea. He first apprenticed with his grandfather, Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, a famous Romantic painter who painted seascapes, a trait that would later be acquired by his grandson. He studied art in Germany, where he graduated from the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts, and then from the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, further deepening his knowledge in Munich and Paris. In addition to painting, the artist also worked as a newspaper illustrator, in the "New Times" newspaper, which allowed him to travel to regions such as the Caucasus, Crimea or Balkans. Between 1904 and 1912, the artist visited Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden, during which he held exhibitions in Florence, Berlin, Paris, also executing important international orders. His presence at the Autumn Salon or Salon of French artists was also noted. An extraordinary collector, in 1910, the artist initiated the opening of the first art museum in Odessa. His impressive collection included valuable works by artists such as Aivazovsky, Menier, Brodsky, Burdanov, Vrubel, Roerich, and even Rembrandt. Other themes the artist was involved with were war scenes, inspired by the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. His works, exhibited in many world capitals, including Belgrade, Bucharest, Buenos Aires, Prague, Rome, and Rio de Janeiro, testify to the resonance of his art. At the beginning of the October Revolution in 1917, Hanzen left St. Petersburg for his native Odessa, and being without property came to the Kingdom of SHS. He moved to Zagreb and immediately held his first exhibition in the Ullrich Salon, and soon visited Dubrovnik for the first time, where he stayed in the Imperial Hotel. In 1922, architect Ćiril Metod Iveković designed a two-story villa with a studio on the north side of Lapad for Hanzen, which was built the following year and the painter named it Olimpia after his wife Olimpiade. His love for the coastal area and the sea immediately reflected in his painting - thus the lasting motif in his opus from the 1920s onwards will remain sea views and views of the coast of Dubrovnik Bay, painted in a realistic-impressionist manner. His landscapes are recognizable for their excellent sense of light and shadow and the Mediterranean local atmosphere, even though he only moved to Dubrovnik in his forties.

References

Sanja Žaja Vrbica, "Croatian Painting Division of Russian Marine Painter Alexey Hanzen", Ars Adriatica 8, 2018, pp. 163-178.

Dimensions

width 92.5 cm, height 74 cm

Description

oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right, in black, "A. Hanzen, 1926."

Research information

The work was very likely exhibited at his exhibition held in Ullrich Salon in 1926.

Dating

1939. - 1940.

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