Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/The Ninth Wave

The Ninth Wave

Creator

Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900) was a Russian-Armenian painter who spent his entire life in the port town of Theodosia, in the Crimea. Along with the more innovative J. M. W. Turner, he is regarded as the great seascape painter of the Romanticism. His output is enormous and includes more than 6,000 artworks.

Proposed caption

One of the highlights of Aivazovsky's oeuvre is The Ninth Wave, a 1850 painting now in the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg. Described as "an ode to human daring in the face of the elements", the canvas depicts a handful of men clinging to the mast of a sunken ship amidst the boundless tumultuous ocean. The dramatic effect is heightened by the striking effects of light and shade.

Reasons

I believe the quality of the newly uploaded scan does homage to this painting.

Articles this image appears in

The image is used to illustrate the article Shipwreck and the section of the article Storm touching upon the 19th-century seascape.

Nominate and support. --Ghirla^-трёп- 09:35, 29 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Strong Support--Mbz1 13:49, 29 August 2007 (UTC)Mbz1[reply]
Comment. Gorgeous painting, but is it encyclopedic? Compare this (non-nominated) shipwreck painting. Spikebrennan 14:57, 29 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Vernet concentrates on the detailed and highly anecdotal action, while Aivazovsky concentrates on the essentials. The Vernet painting illustrates Shipwreck, while the Aivazovsky painting illustrates the heyday of the 19th-century seascape in Storm. They are both encyclopaedic in their own way. It's a shame that the scan of the former is of comparatively inferior quality and resolution. P.S. Talking about shipwrecks, you may like Image:Aivasovsky Ivan Constantinovich Moonlit Seascape With Shipwreck.jpg. --Ghirla^-трёп- 15:48, 29 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. Mainly because it's on the small side for a painting reproduction. The artist's signature is also totally illegible (possible because of too much contrast enhancement), and it looks like some of the border may have been cropped out.--ragesoss 23:20, 30 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Strong support. There is no better painting of this prolific master that illustrates better his renowned mastery of the seascapes. The quality of the scan is amazingly good. Unlike in commons' FPs, the WP' FP are based not entirely on the aesthetic beauty but also fitness and usefulness of the image to illustrate the text. This is just perfect. --Irpen 23:21, 31 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Strong Oppose As an illustration of storm, the image is not accurate. Waves in storms do not look like that - the water roughens but this water remains glossy. They also don't stack up vertically unless the depth of the water is something like less than twice the height of the wave. Look at forces 9-11 in Beaufort scale. Maybe if it were used to illustrate the painter's article. Debivort 05:14, 2 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Support, a very famous and beautyful painting. -- Grafikm ^(AutoGRAF) 13:30, 2 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Support it is on the small side but it doesnt detract at all from its value, the picture really caught my attention the first time i saw it --Childzy ¤ Talk 22:28, 3 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose per Debivort - not illustrative for the articles that use it. thegreen J Are you green? 23:54, 3 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Strong oppose, not good for those two articles or the little thumbnail on the creator's page. gren グレン 00:36, 4 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose as per Debivort. Matt Deres 20:06, 4 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Not promoted MER-C 09:00, 5 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]