Ilya Repin years of life and activity. Ilya Efimovich Repin: famous paintings, biography of the artist, photo
Ilya Efimovich Repin is one of the most notable founders of Russian painting of the 19th century, who left for all mankind a wealth of picturesque and unique images that truthfully reflect various periods of Russian history.
Biography of Ilya Repin
Ilya was born in Chuguev (near Kharkov) on July 24, 1844. In Repin's biography, learning to paint began at the age of thirteen.
And in 1863 he moved to St. Petersburg to study at the Academy of Arts. During his studies there, he performed well, receiving two gold medals for his paintings.
In 1870 he went to travel along the Volga, doing sketches and sketches in the meantime. It was there that the idea of the canvas “Barge Haulers on the Volga” was born. Then the artist moved to the Vitebsk province and acquired an estate there.
The artistic activity of those times in the biography of Ilya Repin is extremely fruitful. In addition to painting, he led a workshop at the Academy of Arts.
Repin's travels around Europe influenced the artist's style. In 1874, Repin became a member of the Wanderers Association, at whose exhibitions he presented his works.
The year 1893 in Repin's biography is indicated by entry into Petersburg Academy Arts as a full member.
The village in which Repin lived, after October revolution found himself part of Finland. Repin died there in 1930.
Repin's creativity
Repin is one of the few Russian artists of the 19th century in whose work the heroism of the Russian revolutionary movement was expressed. Repin knew how to unusually sensitively and carefully see and depict on canvas different sides Russian social reality of that time.
The ability to notice the timid sprouts of a new phenomenon, or rather, even feel them, to identify unclear, cloudy, exciting, gloomy, at first glance, hidden changes in the general course of events - all this was especially clearly reflected in the line of Repin’s work dedicated to the bloody Russian revolutionary movement.
The first work on this topic was the sketch “On a Dirt Road” mentioned, written immediately upon returning from Paris.
In 1878, the artist created the first version of the painting “The Arrest of the Propagandist,” which is actually a witty reminiscence of the scene of “The Taking of Christ into custody” from the New Testament. Obviously dissatisfied with something in the film, Repin once again returned to the same topic. From 1880 to 1892 he worked on a new version, more strict, restrained and expressive. The picture is completely finished compositionally and technically.
People started talking about Repin after the appearance in 1873 of his painting “Barge Haulers on the Volga,” which caused a lot of controversy and negative reviews from the Academy, but was enthusiastically accepted by supporters of realistic art.
One of the peaks of the master’s creativity and Russian painting 2nd half The nineteenth century became a canvas " Procession in the Kursk province", written by Repin based on live observations from nature. He saw religious processions in his homeland, in Chuguev, and in 1881 he traveled to the outskirts of Kursk, where every year in the summer and autumn the religious processions from Kursk, famous throughout Russia, took place miraculous icon Mother of God. After long and hard work to find the desired compositional and semantic solution, to develop images in sketches, Repin wrote a large multi-figure composition, showing a solemn procession of hundreds of people of all ages and ranks, common people and “nobles”, civilians and military, laymen and clergy, imbued with general enthusiasm . Depicting a religious procession is a typical phenomenon old Russia, the artist at the same time showed a wide and multifaceted picture Russian life of his time with all its contradictions and social contrasts, in all its richness folk types and characters. Observation and brilliant painting skills helped Repin create a canvas that amazes with the vitality of the figures, the variety of clothes, the expressiveness of faces, poses, movements, gestures, and at the same time the grandeur, colorfulness and splendor of the spectacle as a whole.
An impressionable, passionate, enthusiastic person, he was responsive to many burning problems public life, involved in the social and artistic thought of his time.
The 1880s were the time when the artist’s talent flourished. In 1885, the painting “Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan on November 16, 1581” was created, celebrating highest point his creative passion and skill.
Repin's work is distinguished by its extraordinary fruitfulness, and he painted many canvases at the same time. One work was not yet finished before another and a third were created.
Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan November 16, 1581 Religious procession in the Kursk province
Repin is an outstanding master of portrait art. His portraits of representatives of different classes - common people and the aristocracy, intelligentsia and royal dignitaries - a kind of chronicle of an entire era of Russia in persons.
He was one of the artists who enthusiastically responded to the idea of the founder of the Tretyakov Gallery, P.M. Tretyakov, to create portraits of outstanding Russian people.
Repin often painted portraits of his loved ones. Portraits eldest daughter Vera – “Dragonfly”, “ Autumn bouquet"and Nadya's daughters - "In the Sun" were written with great warmth and grace. High pictorial perfection is inherent in the painting “Rest”. Depicting his wife falling asleep in a chair, the artist created a surprisingly harmonious female image.
At the end of the 1870s, Repin began working on a painting from the history of the Zaporozhye Sich of the mid-17th century - “The Cossacks are writing a letter to the Turkish Sultan.” The historical legend about how the Cossacks - free Cossacks, responded to the command of the Turkish Sultan Mahmud IV to voluntarily surrender with a daring letter, served as a powerful creative impulse for Repin, who spent his childhood and youth in Ukraine and knew well folk culture. As a result, Repin created a large, significant work in which the idea of the freedom of the people, their independence, the proud Cossack character and their desperate spirit was revealed with exceptional expression. The Cossacks, collectively composing a response to the Turkish Sultan, are represented by Repin as a strong, unanimous brotherhood in all its strength and cohesion. An energetic, powerful brush created bright, colorful images of the Cossacks, superbly conveying their infectious laughter, cheerfulness and prowess.
In 1899, in the holiday village of Kuokkala, on the Karelian Isthmus, Repin bought an estate, which he named “Penates”, where he finally moved in 1903.
In 1918, the Penaty estate ended up in Finland, and Repin was thus cut off from Russia. Despite difficult conditions and the difficult environment, the artist continued to live through art. The last picture he worked on was “Hopak. Dance of the Zaporozhye Cossacks”, dedicated to the memory of his beloved composer M.P. Mussorgsky.
Ilya Repin created truly realistic canvases, which are still a treasure trove art galleries. Repin is called mystical artist. We present to your attention five inexplicable facts related to the painter’s paintings.
First fact. It is known that due to constant overwork, the famous painter’s right hand began to hurt, and then completely stopped working. For a while, Repin stopped creating and fell into depression. According to the mystical version, the artist’s hand stopped working after he painted the painting “Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan” in 1885. Mystics connect these two facts from the artist’s biography with the fact that the painting he painted was cursed. Like, Repin reflected non-existent historical event, and because of this he was cursed. However, later Ilya Efimovich learned to paint with his left hand.
Another mystical fact, associated with this painting, occurred with the icon painter Abram Balashov. When he saw Repin’s painting “Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan,” he attacked the painting and cut it with a knife. After this, the icon painter was sent to a psychiatric hospital. Meanwhile, when this painting was exhibited at the Tretyakov Gallery, many of the spectators began to sob, others were thrown into a stupor by the painting, and some even had hysterical fits. Skeptics attribute these facts to the fact that the picture is painted very realistically. Even the blood, of which there is a lot painted on the canvas, is perceived as real.
Third fact. All of Repin's sitters died after painting the canvas. Many of them - not by their own death. Thus, the “victims” of the artist were Mussorgsky, Pisemsky, Pirogov, and the actor Mercy d’Argenteau. Fyodor Tyutchev died as soon as Repin began painting his portrait. Meanwhile, even completely healthy men died after being sitters for the painting “Barge Haulers on the Volga.”
Fourth fact. Inexplicable but the fact. Repin's paintings influenced general political events in the country. So, after the artist painted the painting “The Ceremonial Meeting of the State Council” in 1903, the officials who were depicted on the canvas died during the first Russian revolution of 1905. And as soon as Ilya Efimovich painted the portrait of Prime Minister Stolypin, the sitter was shot in Kyiv.
Fifth fact. Another mystical incident that affected the artist’s health happened to him in hometown Chuguev. There he painted the painting “The Man with the Evil Eye.” The sitter for the portrait was Repin's distant relative, Ivan Radov, a goldsmith. This man was known in the city as a sorcerer. After Ilya Efimovich painted Radov’s portrait, he, not an old and quite healthy man, fell ill. “I caught a damned fever in the village,” Repin complained to his friends, “Perhaps my illness is connected with this sorcerer. I myself experienced the strength of this man, and twice.”
Bibliography
- Repin I. E., Kramskoy I. N. Correspondence. 1873-1885 / Letters prepared. for printing and notes. to them comp. T. A. Dyadkovskaya; [Preface L. Tarasova]. - Moscow; Leningrad: Art M.: type. “Cr. printer", 1949. - 208 p. - (Letters from I.E. Repin). - 5000 copies.
- Repin I. E., Bazilevsky V. I. Ilya Efimovich Repin, Viktor Ivanovich Bazilevsky Correspondence (1918-1929) / Federal Architect. agency, Russian state archive lit. and art; prepared : T. M. Goryaeva, E. V. Kirilina, O. V. Turbina.. - St. Petersburg, M.: Mir, RGALI, 2012. - 380 p. - 3000 copies. - ISBN 5-98846-061-5, 978-5-98846-061-9.
- Repin I. E., Shcheglov I. Naive questions. With adj. portrait Ivan Shcheglov, fig. I.E. Repin, autobiography. notes and bibliography decree. / Ivan Shcheglov. - St. Petersburg: A. G. Alekseeva, 1903. - 188 p.
- Repin I. E. Letters to E. P. Tarkhanova-Antokolskaya and I. R. Tarkhanov / Under the general. ed. K.I. Chukovsky; Entry article and note I. A. Brodsky and Ya. D. Leshchinsky. - L.: Art. type. art. “Owl. printer", 1937. - 116 p.
- Repin I. E. Distant and close. Ed. and with a preface. K. Chukovsky. M-L., “Art”, 1937, - 624 p.
- Repin I. E. Distant and close. Ed. and from the entrance. article [Repin as a writer] K. Chukovsky. M.-L., “Art”, 1944 - 528 pp., 3,000 copies.
- Repin I. E. Distant Close / Ed. and from the entrance. article [About the book “Distant Close”] by K. Chukovsky; [Comment. A.F. Korostin and L. Chukovskaya]. - 3rd ed., rev. and additional.. - Moscow; Leningrad: Art, 1949. - 555 p.
- Repin I. E., Chukovsky K. I. Ilya Repin, Korney Chukovsky. Correspondence, 1906-1929 / Intro. Art. G. S. Churak; prepared text and publication E. Ts. Chukovskaya and G. S. Churak; comment E. G. Levenfish and G. S. Churak. - M.: New Literary Review, 2006. - 352 p. - 2000 copies. - ISBN 5-86793-436-5.
- Repin I. E., Tretyakov P. M. Letters from I. E. Repin. Correspondence with P. M. Tretyakov. 1873-1898 / Letters prepared. for printing and approx. they were compiled by State employees. Tretyakovsk. galleries of M. N. Grigorieva and A. N. Shchekotova; Preface A. Zamoshkina. - Moscow; Leningrad: Art, 1946. - 226 p. - (Proceedings of the State Tretyakov Gallery).
- Repin I. E. Ilya Efimovich Repin. - St. Petersburg: State procurement expedition. papers, 1894. - T. VIII. - 28 s. - (Russian artists).
- Repin I. E. Barge Haulers on the Volga (Memoirs). - Moscow; Leningrad: Art, 1944. - 124 p.
- Repin I. E. Letters to writers and literary figures. 1880-1929. Prepare for printing and notes. comp. O. I. Gaponova / Ed. A. I. Leonova; Entry article by N. Mashkovtsev.. - M.: type. gas. “Moscow. Pravda", 1950. - 268 p.
I.E. Repin at work. Photo
The artist I. Repin left us a stunning portrait gallery. Stunning both in the number of images created and in the psychological depth.
The artist was engaged in portrait painting throughout his life, Repin’s skill in the portrait genre was constantly growing, and when in the 80s years XIX V. he completed a series of portraits commissioned from him by P.M. Tretyakov, it became clear that Russian portraiture in the person of I. Repin received a brilliant continuation. In any portrait of the artist, a certain objectivism is felt: not his own assessment of the people depicted, but precisely the inner essence of the person whose portrait is in front of us. The person depicted by Repin always seems to be talking about himself.
The portraits painted throughout his life, of course, have different values. But some of them are real masterpieces portrait painting. First of all, these are portraits of the then famous writer A.F. Pisemsky and composer M.P. Mussorgsky, whose portrait Repin painted literally in last days his life.
Let's take a closer look at these portraits.
I. Repin “Portrait of the writer A.F. Pisemsky" (1880)
I. Repin “Portrait of the writer A.F. Pisemsky" (1880). Oil on canvas, 87x68 cm. State Tretyakov Gallery
Repin's contemporaries were struck by this portrait with its bright vitality. Not in the sense of realistic accuracy in depicting all the details of his appearance, but in the ability to capture in the image of this person the defining features of his character. What was Pisemsky’s character like?
Repin knew him personally and knew well the caustic sarcasticness of this writer; sometimes his works deliberately contained unfriendly mockery and skepticism - all this can be felt in the portrait. Pisemsky is no longer young and sick, and the viewer also sees this. His high, intelligent forehead, bags under his eyes, a sickly face, but lively eyes, as if peering inquisitively at those who look at him... The viewer feels the insight of this man, as well as his disdain for his appearance and to the impression that he will make on others: Pisemsky is depicted sitting, leaning on a gnarled stick. His beard is unkempt, and there is a stubborn tuft above his forehead; a bow under the collar is out of fashion, as is a baggy jacket...
Pisemsky’s contemporaries saw in the portrait not only external image writer, but also his nature, reflected in the nature of his work. Repin also knew the dramatic circumstances of Pisemsky’s life: one of his sons committed suicide, and the second was terminally ill. Traces of this tragedy are also present in the portrait...
I. Repin “Portrait of the composer M.P. Mussorgsky" (1881)
I. Repin “Portrait of the composer M.P. Mussorgsky" (1881). Canvas, oil. 71.8 x 58.5 cm. State Tretyakov Gallery
It is known that Repin was friends with Mussorgsky and was an admirer of his talent. In February 1881, the artist learned about serious illness Mussorgsky and writes to Stasov about this: “Again I read in the newspaper that Mussorgsky is very ill. What a pity for this brilliant force, who disposed of himself physically so stupidly.”
I. Repin visited the Nikolaev military hospital, where Mussorgsky was located, and wrote for four days famous portrait composer. 11 days after finishing the work, Mussorgsky died.
It would be appropriate to quote Stasov’s story here. “By all indications, Repin had to hurry up with the portrait of his loved one on his current visit: it was clear that they would never see each other again. And then happiness favored the portrait: at the beginning of Lent, a period of illness began for Mussorgsky when he became refreshed, cheerful, cheerful, believed in a speedy healing and dreamed of new musical works, even within the walls of his military hospital... At such and such a time Repin met Mussorgsky. On top of everything, the weather was wonderful, and the large room with high windows where Mussorgsky was located was all flooded with sunlight...”
“Repin managed to paint his portrait for only four days: March 2, 3, 4 and 5, after which the last fatal period of the disease began. This portrait was painted with all sorts of inconveniences: the painter did not even have an easel, and he had to somehow perch at the table in front of which Mussorgsky was sitting in a hospital chair. He presented him in a robe, with crimson velvet lapels and cuffs, with his head slightly tilted, deeply thinking about something. The similarity in facial features and expression is striking. Of all those who knew Mussorgsky, there was no one who would not be delighted with this portrait - it is so lifelike, so similar, so faithfully and simply it conveys the whole nature, the whole character, the whole appearance Mussorgsky."
When I brought this portrait to the Traveling Exhibition, I witnessed the admiration and joy of many of our best artists, comrades and friends, but also of Repin’s admirers. I'm happy I saw this scene. One of the largest among all of them, and as a portrait painter and undoubtedly the largest, I.N. Kramskoy, seeing this portrait, simply gasped in surprise. After the first seconds general overview he took a chair, sat down in front of the portrait, point-blank to his face, and did not leave for a long, long time. “What Repin is doing today,” he said, “is simply incomprehensible. Look, look at his portrait of Pisemsky - what a masterpiece! Something like Rembrandt and Velazquez together! But this, this portrait will perhaps be even more amazing. Here he has some unheard of techniques, never tried by anyone - he himself and no one else. This portrait was painted God knows how quickly, fieryly - everyone can see it. But how everything is drawn, by what master’s hand, how it’s sculpted, how it’s written! Look at these eyes: they look as if they were alive, they are lost in thought, all the inner, spiritual work of that moment is depicted in them - and how many portraits are there in the world with such an expression! And the body, and the cheeks, forehead, nose, mouth - a living, completely living face, and everything in the light, from the first to the last line, all in the sun, without a single shadow - what a creature!
This painting was also acquired by Tretyakov for his collection.
I. Repin “Portrait of the surgeon N.I. Pirogov" (1881)
I. Repin “Portrait of the surgeon N.I. Pirogov" (1881). Oil on canvas, 64.5x53.4 cm. State Tretyakov Gallery
The artist painted this portrait according to own initiative– he was attracted by the extraordinary personality of the famous surgeon. The portrait was painted on May 22-24, 1881 in Moscow during the solemn celebration of the 50th anniversary of the medical and scientific activity Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov.
During the Crimean War (1855), Pirogov was the chief surgeon of the besieged Sevastopol. Pirogov, for the first time in the history of Russian medicine, used a plaster cast to treat wounds of the limbs, thereby saving many soldiers and officers from amputation. During the siege of Sevastopol, Pirogov supervised the training of the sisters of the Holy Cross community of sisters of mercy. This was also an innovation of those times.
During the Russian-Turkish war N.I. Pirogov, who was already 67 years old, not far from Plevna, organized the treatment of soldiers, care for the wounded and sick in military hospitals, and operated not only on Russian soldiers, but also on many Bulgarians.
... The gray head of the surgeon looks clearly on dark background, she leans back proudly. The face of this old man is expressively written wise man(Pirogov was 70 years old at the time of painting the portrait). His gaze is slightly narrowed, there is a sense of temperament and strength in it, his lips are tightly compressed. With light strokes the artist conveys psychological picture N.I. Pirogov, the significance of his personality - a scientist and humanist.
I. Repin “Portrait of P.M. Tretyakov" (1883)
I. Repin “Portrait of P.M. Tretyakov" (1883). Oil on canvas, 101x77 cm. State Tretyakov Gallery
I.E. Repin and P.M. Tretyakov met in the early 1870s. Their friendly relations continued until Tretyakov’s death. He purchased 52 paintings and 8 drawings by Repin. The artist was also one of the main executors of portrait orders from Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov for his gallery - he decided to collect portraits prominent figures Russian culture.
Repin worked very quickly, and during the sessions he liked to have conversations with the person being portrayed, including artistic disputes.
Tretyakov, a very reserved and rather reserved man, did not agree to pose for a long time. He did not want visitors to the exhibition to recognize him by sight - he loved to be unnoticed among gallery visitors, observe their feelings, listen to feedback; sometimes Tretyakov changed the place for the painting and placed it where it looked better, was brighter lit, or, conversely, was in a mysterious twilight.
And Repin, in turn, believed that everyone should know Tretyakov, because he did so much for the development of painting in Russia and for its popularization. Tretyakov is depicted by Repin in his usual pose, when he listens attentively to someone: absorbed and lost in thought. Closed hands indicate some isolation of the character.
For the portrait, the artist chose a dry and even strict style of painting, but Tretyakov was like that - modest and extremely restrained. His face is painted in an iconographic style, and his hand is thin, long and slightly curved fingers lying on the fabric of a merchant's frock coat speaks of his delicate nature.
Contemporaries found Tretyakov's portrait very similar to the original and psychologically accurate.
I. Repin “Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka during the composition of the opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila” (1887)
I. Repin “Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka during the composition of the opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila” (1887). Oil on canvas, 101 x 118.5 cm. State Tretyakov Gallery
This portrait was one of the first orders made by P.M. Tretyakov I.E. Repin in 1872, shortly after they met. But the order was not completed immediately; Repin began working on it only in the mid-1880s. When creating the portrait, the artist was helped by Glinka’s sister, L.I., with her memories and stories. Shestakov (Glinka died in 1857).
The composer is depicted in home environment completely immersed in creativity: the face is concentrated and at the same time full of that inner wealth that happens to creative person. The objects that surround Glinka help the viewer to feel the atmosphere of the great composer’s work.
I. Repin “Portrait of the composer A.G. Rubinstein" (1887)
I. Repin “Portrait of the composer A.G. Rubinstein" (1887). Oil on canvas, 110 x 85 cm. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
The images of many famous composers created by I. Repin indicate that the artist loved music. He and A.G. wrote several times. Rubinstein, who not only was famous composer and a pianist, but also a friend of Repin.
Anton Grigorievich Rubinstein founded the Russian musical society and the first Russian conservatory in St. Petersburg, was its director and professor. He appeared and the greatest pianist, marked the beginning of the world fame of Russian pianistic art.
Rubinstein is depicted in this portrait in the process of his work, at the moment creative inspiration. His thoughts and feelings this moment completely devoted to music, difficult turn figures, the conductor's hand gesture, the nervous trepidation characteristic of an improviser - all this corresponds to the strong, impetuous character of the musician.
I. Repin “Portrait of Leo Tolstoy” (1887)
I. Repin “Portrait of Leo Tolstoy” (1887). Oil on canvas, 124x88 cm. State Tretyakov Gallery
The friendship between Repin and Tolstoy lasted 30 years, until the death of the writer. And although both inspired, enriched and loved each other, their views, including on art, were different in many ways. Often Tolstoy’s opinion pushed the artist to something different, more the right decision or forced me to look at the material more deeply.
Repin painted 12 portraits, made 25 drawings and 8 sketches of Tolstoy’s family members and 17 illustrations for the writer’s works. He also sculpted three busts of Leo Tolstoy.
This portrait is very simple in pose and colors, but truly amazing. Tolstoy is depicted sitting in a chair, with a book in one hand, and the other hand resting on the arm of the chair. Perhaps the writer was thinking about what he had just read. He looks directly at the viewer, tilting his powerful head slightly to the side. The black blouse is tied at the waist with a belt. Deep-seated, penetrating eyes look into the distance and into the depths, straight into the heart and soul. This face has it all: willpower and kindness, a big heart and a powerful thought. Anyone who looks at this portrait can feel the inexhaustible personality of the great writer.
The light background of the picture enhances the impression of the importance of L.N. Tolstoy.
Self-portrait
The son of a retired soldier, an icon painter, a talented student, a world-famous artist, a teacher and a great hard worker. All this is Ilya Repin.
Much has been written about the artist interesting books, and I have no desire to compete with truly knowledgeable, talented writers. I will tell you very little about the artist. I won't tell you practically anything. Repin is a whole universe that requires deep study and understanding. Both his biography and his works - all this, even in the most summary, impossible to squeeze into one post.
Therefore, I bring to your attention only a sketch, only a timid hint of the theme “Ilya Repin. Life and art".
Biography of the artist Ilya Repin
Artist Ilya Efimovich Repin was born on July 24 (August 5), 1844 in the city of Chuguev, in the family of a retired soldier who drove horses for sale, saved a small amount of money and built a house on the banks of the Northern Donets.
The artist’s mother, Tatyana Stepanovna, was a literate and active woman - she not only educated her children, but also organized a small school where both adults and children studied. However, educational activities It took a lot of time, but did not provide any income. And Tatyana Stepanovna sewed fur coats from hare fur for sale.
One day, Ilya’s cousin, Trofim, brought into the house watercolor paints. And at that moment, little Ilya’s life changed forever - he saw how the black and white watermelon from the children’s alphabet suddenly came to life, acquired juiciness and brightness. This is how the artist himself later described this event:
To console me, Trofim left me his paints, and from then on I became so engrossed in the paints, clinging to the table, that they barely tore me away for dinner and shamed me, that I became completely wet, like a mouse, from zeal and became stupefied with my paints for those days .
When Ilya was 11 years old, he was sent to topography school - in those days, the profession of a topographer was considered very prestigious and profitable. Ilya studied at school for two years and educational institution was abolished. Repin found a place for himself in the icon-painting workshop of the artist Bunakov. Very little time passed, and the news about talented artist-icon painting has spread far beyond the borders of the small town. Contractors and customers from all over the province began to come to Chuguev.
In 1860, Repin left the icon-painting workshop and his parents’ house - young artist invited to a mobile (nomadic) icon-painting workshop with a salary of 25 rubles per month. The workshop wandered from city to city and in 1863 ended up in the Voronezh province, not far from the town of Ostrogozhsk, where Ivan Kramskoy was born. One of the local residents told Ilya about a talented fellow countryman who left small homeland, went to St. Petersburg, entered the Academy and even received a gold medal for one of his paintings.
This story struck Repin so much that he began saving money and three months later he was already in St. Petersburg.
The first visit to the Academy upset Ilya Efimovich - his work was criticized, and the young artist’s talent was not identified. Failure did not cool Repin’s desires - he rented a room and got a job at an evening school, where he was very soon named best student schools.
The young artist successfully passed the entrance exams to the Academy and received the right to attend classes as a volunteer with the obligation to pay 25 rubles for training. Repin did not have that kind of money and he turned to Fyodor Pryanishnikov (head of the postal department) for help. And Pryanishnikov helped.
Years of study at the Academy brought the young artist several awards, the title of artist of the first degree and the right to a six-year trip abroad at public expense.
Resurrection of Jairus' Daughter
By 1871, Repin had already gained some fame in the capital - his painting “The Resurrection of Jairus’s Daughter” was very favorably received by the public and critics, and rumors about the young talented artist reached the Mother See. Alexander Porokhovshchikov, the owner of the Slavic Bazaar hotel, ordered the young artist the painting “Collection of Russian, Czech and Polish Composers” for 1,500 rubles. It must be said that Porokhovshchikov’s choice was dictated rather by mercantile considerations - the artist Makovsky asked for 25,000 for this painting. And Repin had a chance to get out of many years of poverty. For the young artist, this amount seemed simply enormous.
In June 1872, the Slavic Bazaar opened to the public. The central painting of the exhibition, “Collection of Russian, Czech and Polish Composers,” brought the author not only money, but also a lot of congratulations and compliments.
But there were also dissatisfied people. Here's what Ivan Turgenev wrote about the painting:
a cold vinaigrette of the living and the dead - strained nonsense that could have been born in the head of some Khlestakov-Porokhovshchikov.
In 1872, Repin married Vera Shevtsova, the sister of a friend in his drawing class. The young couple went on a honeymoon to sketch in Nizhny Novgorod. Soon the newlyweds had a daughter.
As soon as his daughter grew up a little, Repin exercised his right to travel abroad and went with his family to Europe. The family made a voyage to European cities (Rome and Naples, Vienna, Florence and Venice) and stopped in Paris.
Parisian cafe
In a letter to Stasov, he complained that Rome completely disappointed him, and Raphael seemed boring and outdated.
This letter inexplicably fell into the hands of journalists and the magazine “Entertainment” published a terrible caricature, which was accompanied by poetry:
Isn't it true, my reader?
What for judges like Stasov
And turnips are better than pineapples
The artist had a hard time getting used to the French capital, had difficulty recognizing the Impressionists, and even became interested in the work of Manet (they say that “The Parisian Cafe” was written precisely under the influence of Manet).
However, contemporaries reproached the artist for not understanding the beauty of impressionism. Wanting to prove the opposite, Repin painted the painting “Sadko”. However, the search for money to paint this painting took a lot of time and the artist “cooled down” somewhat. However, the money was found by chance along with the customer. The picture had to be painted. And the artist subsequently greatly regretted what he had done.
Barge Haulers on the Volga
In 1876, for the painting “Sadko,” Repin was awarded the title of academician. However, universal recognition does not silence critics. This is what critic Andrei Prakhov wrote about the artist’s work
Excuse me, isn’t this the same Repin who wrote “Burlakov”? What should he do now, if even as a student he was already producing perfections? I’m filled with trepidation and go... “Oh, look, maman, there’s a man in an aquarium!”... I wish him to wake up happily...
Upon returning to Russia, the Repin family settled in Chuguev. For many months Polenov invited the artist to Moscow and, finally, Repin decided to move. And the move was very difficult - the artist took with him great amount artistic goodness. Immediately after the move, Ilya Efimovich fell ill with malaria. The illness was severe and long-lasting, and after recovery, succumbing to Kramskoy’s persuasion, Repin decided to join the Association of Itinerants.
In 1882, the Repin family moved to St. Petersburg - Moscow tired the artist. He brings to the capital sketches of “Cossacks”, “Arrest of the Propagandist”, “Refusal of Confession”, “Ivan the Terrible”, and hundreds of other drawings and sketches.
The couple lived together for 15 years and gave birth to three more children. Their marriage was happy, but Vera Ivanovna was constantly burdened by her wife’s “salon life.” famous artist. And a break occurred, which became a shock for Ilya Efimovich. Stasov (Repin's friend) wrote:
Repin somehow fell silent with his exhibition, and in the summer and autumn he talked a lot about it... What peace is there, what joy, what opportunity to paint your own pictures? How can we prepare an exhibition when... all the troubles, stories, sheer misfortune?
Both during his happy marriage and after the divorce, Repin wrote a lot to his family members, relatives and friends.
In 1894, Ilya Efimovich Repin entered the Academy of Painting as the head of a painting workshop. This was a very difficult period in the artist’s life - he was mercilessly criticized as a teacher and as a leader. In addition, “revolutionary ferment” began among teachers and students. Support was expected from the author of paintings about revolutionaries, but Repin came to the defense of the authorities. Twice he wrote a letter of resignation, and in 1907 he left the Academy completely and irrevocably.
Soon his second wife died.
Procession of the Cross in Kursk Province
The artist settled in Finland and, after the October Revolution, ended up immigrating against his will. I wanted to return to Russia many times, but somehow it didn’t work out. The artist slowly faded away and in September 1930, Ilya Efimovich Repin passed away. Before his death, he wrote a farewell letter:
Farewell, farewell, dear friends! I was given a lot of happiness on earth: I was so undeservedly lucky in life. It seems that I am not at all worthy of my fame, but I did not bother about it, and now, prostrate in the dust, I thank, thank, completely moved good peace, who always glorified me so generously.
Paintings by artist Ilya Repin
Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan
Summer landscape
Evening girls
Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan
Return from the war
Princess Sophia in the Novodevichy Convent
M.I. Glinka during the composition of the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila
Portrait of the poet S. M. Gorodetsky with his wife
Portrait of the poet A.A. Feta
Merchant Kalashnikov
Abramtsevo
Nude model
Autumn bouquet
Ilya Efimovich Repin - Russian portrait artist, master of household and historical scenes. Repin's paintings with titles make it possible to understand the portraits of which people he created. After all, some of the heroes of the paintings are known, but the names social status others allows you to find out the name of the painting.
"Barge Haulers on the Volga" (1870-1873)
The artist worked towards this monumental work for several years. Once, while on the banks of the Neva, he saw barge haulers pulling a barge. Not far from this place gentlemen in festive attire were walking. The contrast was so great that the painter decided to convey on canvas his impressions of what he saw.
At first he wanted to build a plot on the contrast - rich gentlemen and barge haulers pulling an unbearable burden. The master made many sketches. IN final version Ilya Efimovich decided to capture the Volga River, along the banks of which tired barge haulers walk, doing their hard work.
They pull straps that are tied to the barge. The ship could not navigate the shallows on its own, so people dragged it this way. It is clear that they receive very little for such work, since the barge haulers’ clothes have long since turned into rags. People's faces are black from sunburn and hard work.
The rainbow colors that depict the sky and sea slightly dispel the sadness of contemplating the joyless life of barge haulers.
But not all of Repin’s paintings with titles are so sad; the illustrations for the fairy tale “Sadko” are more optimistic.
“Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom” (1876)
In 1871, the artist wrote a sketch for the fairy tale “Sadko,” calling it “Woman with a Dagger.” It depicts a proud Oriental beauty in half profile. The girl is wearing a national headdress and clothes. Long dark hair fall onto the shoulders. The girl holds the sheath, she is tense and concentrated - at the slightest danger she will take out a dagger and use it as a weapon of defense.
In 1875-1876, other paintings by Repin appeared with titles on this topic. In 1875 he created a sketch for the canvas “Sadko”. But the faces of the girls living in underwater kingdom, are barely distinguishable here. But already finished painting Even the smallest facial features of the sea beauties are visible. The underwater king wanted to marry Sadko to one of them, and several hundred young beauties appeared before the young man.
The artist managed to convey even the reflections of water and reliably depict air bubbles. When viewing this work of art, the viewer may feel that he and the main character are in the underwater world.
"Beggar" (Fisherman Girl) (1874)
The works of the great Russian painter can be seen in the Tretyakov Gallery and other museums in the country and around the world. In order not to go so far, you can look at photographs taken from the original paintings.
Repin realistically depicted what he saw. On his canvases images of not only noble gentlemen, but also people who have almost nothing remained forever. Repin's paintings with titles help to find out who these inhabitants of the nineteenth century were.
The poor girl apparently lived near the river and was a fisherman. From the history of writing this masterpiece, it becomes clear that the child lived in the French city of Veul. The girl posed for artists and earned her bread. According to Ilya Efimovich, it was not easy to draw her, as the girl was grimacing and constantly spinning. But in an hour the master was able to grasp her thoughts, feelings, and inner state.
Nature on the canvas is depicted as if in lifeless colors, the child attracts all the attention: sun-bleached eyelashes, eyebrows, hair, chapped hands. Repin managed to convey even the smallest details of the girl’s beggarly clothes.
Many artists and art critics claim that by painting this picture, Repin first established himself as the greatest portrait painter.
Repin's paintings (photos) with titles
However, the artist continues to work in different genres. In the same year, other Repin paintings with titles appeared, these are “Portrait of Elizaveta Mamontova”, “Portrait of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev”, “Ukrainian woman at the fence”, as well as a small canvas “Road through a narrow passage” and other canvases.
In Paris
While living in France, Ilya Repin experienced a burst of creative inspiration. The paintings with titles that he painted here are not only “The Beggar Woman” and “Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom”, but also “The Road to Montmartre in Paris”, “Parisian Cafe” and others.
In “The Parisian Cafe” (1875) we see richly and stylishly dressed people. If you also look at the image of a beggar girl in parallel, the contrast will be significant. In the cafe, ladies and men eat deliciously, drink, and relax.
In the foreground she is depicted in a black dress. It is clear that she is very confident in herself, as she knows about her attractiveness. A man is sitting at the next table; he is so focused on the beauty that he does not heed his daughter’s requests. Perhaps only this girl, the nanny sitting next to her with a red ribbon in her hair and young man reading a newspaper, real, living faces. Everyone else is similar wax figures who do not have genuine human feelings.
"We didn't expect it"
But a lot of emotions are visible on the canvas created by the painter in 1884-1888. Speaking about what paintings by the artist Repin there are with names known to everyone, it is impossible not to remember this one.
At first, the artist wanted to convey the moment of a girl student returning to her family from study. This version, painted in 1883, also remains; the canvas is small in size.
In 1884, the artist painted the main version of the painting. It depicts an exile who has returned to his family. The elderly woman in the foreground stood up from her chair to meet her son. The boy sitting at the table was delighted at his father's arrival. The girl looks wary because she doesn’t recognize her dad in this man. Perhaps she was still very young when her father was exiled to Siberia, so she forgot his facial features. The woman at the piano, apparently the wife of the arrival, looks at him in surprise and joy.
The picture is filled with air and light, which emphasize its positive content. Like other paintings by the great Repin, it conveys everything that happens very realistically and truthfully.
Repin Ilya Efimovich is a great Russian artist. Born on July 24 (August 5), 1844 in Chuguev in the family of a military settler. Your first artistic skills Ilya Repin received military topographers at the local school (1854–1857), and then from the Chuguev icon painter I.M. Bunakov; from 1859 he carried out orders for icons and church paintings. Having moved to St. Petersburg in 1863, Repin studied at the drawing school of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts and at the Academy of Arts (1864–1871). Lived in Italy and France (1873–1876). In 1877, Repin returned to Chuguev, then lived in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and from 1900 in Kuokkala, on his estate “Penates”. He was one of the most active members of the Association of Itinerants. Already religious paintings, painted according to academic programs (Job and his friends, 1869; The Resurrection of Jairus’s Daughter, 1871; both paintings are in the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg), show an amazing gift of psychological concentration.
Repin's painting Barge Haulers on the Volga (1870–1873, ibid.) became a sensation; on the basis of numerous sketches, mostly written during a trip along the Volga, the young Ilya Repin created a painting that was impressive with its vivid expressiveness of nature, and formidable force protest brewing in these outcasts of society. Pathos and protest in the paintings of the painter Repin were either inextricably linked, as in the solemnly sarcastic Procession of the Cross in the Kursk province (1883), or they were divided into two parallel streams: thus, along with the “revolutionary cycle” about the tragic breakdown of society (Refusal of Confession, 1879 -1885; They Didn’t Expect, 1884; Arrest of the Propagandist, 1880–1892; all works - in the Tretyakov Gallery; October 17, 1905, 1907, Russian Museum) Repin enthusiastically writes picturesque images of the front facade of the empire (Reception of volost elders Alexander III in the courtyard of the Petrovsky Palace in Moscow, 1885, ibid.; Ceremonial meeting State Council May 7, 1901 in honor of the centenary of its establishment, 1901–1903, Russian Museum).
Repin's temperamental brush saturates with powerful emotional strength and historical images of the past (Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan, 1878–1891, ibid.; Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan, 1885, Tretyakov Gallery). These emotions sometimes literally spill out: in 1913, icon painter A. Balashov, literally hypnotized by Ivan the Terrible, cut up the painting with a knife.
Repin's portraits are surprisingly lyrically attractive. The artist creates poignant folk types (The Man with the Evil Eye, Protodeacon; both paintings - 1877, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow), numerous anthologically perfect images of scientists and cultural figures (Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov, 1880; Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, 1881; Polina Antipyevna Strepetova, 1882; Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov, 1883; all in the same place; and many other portrait paintings, including portraits of Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy, painted during the artist’s stay in Yasnaya Polyana- in 1891 and later), graceful social portraits (Baroness Varvara Ivanovna Ikskul von Hildebrandt, 1889, ibid.).
The images of the artist’s relatives are especially colorful and sincere: Autumn Bouquet (daughter Vera), 1892, ibid.; a whole series of paintings with Repin’s wife Nadezhda Ilyinichna Nordman-Severova. Repin also proved himself to be an outstanding teacher: he was a professor-head of the workshop (1894–1907) and rector (1898–1899) of the Academy of Arts, and at the same time taught at Tenisheva’s school-workshop.
As he grows older, the artist continues to amaze the public. The apogee of impressionistic pictorial freedom – and at the same time psychologism – is reached by Repin’s painting in portrait studies for the State Council. IN mysterious picture What space! (1903, Russian Museum) - with a young couple rejoicing on the icy shore of the Neva Bay - Repin expresses his attitude towards the new generation in his characteristic manner of “love and enmity”.
After the October Revolution of 1917, the artist found himself separated from Russia in his “Penates” when Finland gained independence. In 1922–1925, Repin wrote perhaps the best of his religious paintings– Golgotha, imbued with hopeless tragedy ( Art Museum, Princeton, USA). Despite the invitations high level, he never moved to his homeland, although he maintained contacts with friends living there (in particular, with Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky). Ilya Efimovich Repin died in his Penates on September 29, 1930.