Daryal Gorge, 1862 Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (1817-1900)

We create our paintings with museum quality and covering the highest academic standards. Once we get your order, it will be entirely hand-painted with oil on canvas. All the materials we use are the highest level, being totally artist graded painting materials and linen canvas.

We will add 1.6" (4 cm) additional blank canvas all over the painting for stretching.

High quality and detailing in every inch are time consuming. The reproduction of Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky also needs time to dry in order to be completely ready for shipping, as this is crucial to not be damaged during transportation.
Based on the size, level of detail and complexity we need 8-9 weeks to complete the process.

In case the delivery date needs to be extended in time, or we are overloaded with requests, there will be an email sent to you sharing the new timelines of production and delivery.

TOPofART wants to remind you to keep patient, in order to get you the highest quality, being our mission to fulfill your expectations.

We not stretch and frame our oil paintings due to several reasons:
Painting reproduction is a high quality expensive product, which we cannot risk to damage by sending it being stretched.
Also, there are postal restrictions, regarding the size of the shipment.
Additionally, due to the dimensions of the stretched canvas, the shipment price may exceed the price of the product itself.

You can stretch and frame your painting in your local frame-shop.

Once the painting Daryal Gorge is ready and dry, it will be shipped to your delivery address. The canvas will be rolled-up in a secure postal tube.

We offer free shipping as well as paid express transportation services.

After adding your artwork to the shopping cart, you will be able to check the delivery price using the Estimate Shipping and Tax tool.

The paintings we create are only of museum quality. Our academy graduated artists will never allow a compromise in the quality and detail of the ordered painting. TOPofART do not work, and will never allow ourselves to work with low quality studios from the Far East. We are based in Europe, and quality is our highest priority.

In “Daryal Gorge,” Ivan Aivazovsky paints a scene that feels both intimate and vast, a contrast only he could pull off with such grace. The canvas is dominated by the towering, jagged cliffs that loom on either side like silent sentinels, their dark, imposing forms melting into the misty atmosphere above. You can almost feel the damp chill in the air, the isolation of the travelers dwarfed by the landscape.

And then there’s the light - oh, the light! Aivazovsky was a magician with light, and here he uses it sparingly but with stunning effect. A sliver of moonlight spills across the rocky river, catching the water’s surface in a silvery shimmer. It’s not the full, golden glow of a sunrise or sunset but rather a faint, ghostly illumination that adds to the painting’s haunting mood. The figures on horseback - minuscule in comparison to their surroundings - are caught in this fragile light, leading a caravan through the treacherous pass, barely noticeable against the looming shadows.

The composition feels like a slow, deliberate movement through space, pulling the eye along the glowing river and into the heart of the painting, where the distant peaks are just visible through a veil of clouds. There’s no rush here, no drama - just an eerie tranquility, a moment suspended in time. The color palette, mostly cool blues and deep blacks, is pierced by that singular, ethereal light, creating a sense of mystery and wonder. It’s a landscape, yes, but also a meditation on the sublime, on nature’s power and humanity’s quiet perseverance in the face of it.

Aivazovsky’s brushstrokes - so soft they almost dissolve into mist - make the entire scene feel like a dream. Or maybe it’s a nightmare, depending on how long you’ve been on that road.