The digital versions of the paintings by world famous Armenian seascape artist Hovhannes Aivazovsky will be showcased in various cities around the world.

According to the Turkish Anadolu state news agency, the exhibition called “The Istanbul of Aivazovsky” has already been launched in Istanbul. According to ermenihaber.am, in an interview with Anadolu prior to the opening of the exhibition, the exhibition’s general director Bulent Ozukan informed that the organizers had obtained the right to show and publish the digital duplicates of the original paintings of Aivazovsky located in the museums and galleries of various countries around the world.

According to Ozukan, it took nearly 3 years to prepare for the exhibition in Istanbul, and now the exhibition showcases only 400 of the up to 6,000 paintings created by the renowned painter.

The director of the exhibition also mentioned that Hovhannes Aivazovsky had visited the Ottoman Empire nearly 8 times, had been hosted by the Ottoman emperors and had created nearly 200 paintings in that period.

Let us mention that similar exhibitions will be held in other parts of the world as we approach the 200^th birth anniversary of Aivazovsky to be marked in 2017. The digital exhibition devoted to the works of Ayvazovksy in the Museum of Theodosia in Crimea will be launched on October 8, followed by exhibitions in New York (October 15) and in Yerevan (October 24), and the exhibition in Saint Petersburg will be organized in 2016.

Let us also mention that the Turkish source didn’t reflect on Aivazovsky’s Armenian identity and presented the world famous seascape painter in Russian transcription, that is, Ivan Aivazovsky. However, the painter was born to the family of merchant Gevorg Ayvazyan in the city of Theodosia of Crimea. In relation to his birth, the writing “Hovhannes Son of Gevorg Ayvazyan” has been kept in the registry of birth and baptism of the local Armenian church.