The world-renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has revised the way it identifies famous seascape painter Hovhannes (Ivan) Aivazovsky to reflect his Armenian heritage following complaints from community members , Asbarez reports.
Originally, the Met had identified Aivazovsky as Ukrainian, including in the biographical notes that he was “born into an Armenian family.”
In the revised iteration, the Met has added his Armenian birth name next to his professional name and has amended the “Ukrainian” moniker with “Armenian, born Russian Empire [now Ukraine].”
In his biography, the Met has also emphasized Aivazovsky’s Armenian heritage by writing, “As a member of the city’s longstanding Armenian community, Aivazovsky had a rich cultural and linguistic background. He worked and exhibited widely, including in cities in present-day Armenia, Georgia, Italy, Russia, Turkey, and mainland Ukraine.”
