Art Chowder January | February 2018, Issue 13 | Page 36

Ilya Repin (1844-1930)
Y
ounger than Kramskoi—for a time his student until he entered the Academy,
and a sometime member of the Itinerants—Ilya Repin has been called “Russia’s
Rembrandt,” and the first Russian artist to have found notoriety in the West while
painting Russian themes. Repin was reportedly Stalin’s favorite artist and was held
by the Soviets to be a precursor and catalyst for Socialist Realism, the officially
supported style of the USSR.
The painting that first brought Repin acclaim was his Barge Haulers on the Volga
(1870-1873). Begun while he was a student, the artist had first seen barge haulers
while out on holiday and was so taken by the sight that, in part through help from
the Academy, he traveled to the Volga River with some companions, where he found
some real barge haulers to use in his masterpiece. A comparison of Repin’s painting
with the utterly matter-of-fact Realism of Gustave Courbet’s Stone Breakers reveals
a marked difference; the latter figures are essentially soulless, whereas each of the
barge haulers is highly individualized. Although the painting has been taken as
Ilya Repin (1844-1930)
Barge Haulers on the Volga
1870-1873
oil on canvas
51.8 x 110.6”
Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
Ilya Repin (1844-1930)
Easter Procession in the Region of Kursk
1880-1883
oil on canvas
68 x 110”
Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
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ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE
an indictment of working conditions
under Tsarist rule, it received glowing
praise in official quarters and, while
Tretyakov tried to buy it, the picture was
acquired by a son of Tsar Alexander II,
Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich,
who immediately sent it to be shown
in Vienna, and it was later hung in his
palace.
The style of Repin has been called
“Critical Realism,” an example of which
is his Easter Procession in the District
of Kursk.