Ivan Aivazovsky was born in Feodosia in 1817 in the family which had no connection to painting. He often walked along the Crimean coast in order to preserve in his memory all the beauty and grandeur of nature, and then transfer it to canvas. Aivazovsky considered the sea to be his native element, and he especially appreciated the places where he grew up. Despite the fact that the artist gained great fame and recognition in Europe, he lived all his life in Feodosia.

Many of the artist's works are in one way or another related to the Crimea and its nature. The painting «View of the Sea from the Mountains. Crimea» shows a panoramic view of the coast under the warm rays of the sun from a mountainous area. Against the background of the nature’s beauty there is a harmonious picture of an ordinary scene: a family moving along a mountain road.

The artist was inspired by the personality of Alexander Pushkin, whom he once met. In the painting «Pushkin at the Top of Ai-Petri at Sunrise», he combined his love for the Crimea and the poet by depicting a real episode from Pushkin's life, when the poet spent several weeks in Gurzuf.

Aivazovsky's most famous painting is «The Ninth Shaft», which he painted in Feodosia in 1850. The painting depicts the sailors who miraculously escaped during the storm and are trying to climb the wreckage of the mast. The sunlight in the painting captures one's attention and the warm hues give a sense of hope, but beyond the picture lies the fatal danger, a huge wave - the ninth wave – which is about to crash down on the sailors.

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