Artist Repin biography and him. Ilya Repin - biography, photo, personal life, paintings of the artist

An artist whose name is constantly heard thanks to a painting that he... did not paint. A great representative of Russian realism in painting... passionately interested in other creative methods. A classic who gained fame during his lifetime in the USSR, but ended his life in bourgeois Finland and... on the territory of St. Petersburg at the same time. A creator who left many brilliant paintings, and... found time for many other activities - from teaching and memoirs and journalism to a busy personal life and constant receptions of guests.

Can you guess what we're talking about? Yes, this artist is Ilya Efimovich Repin. Who doesn’t know his paintings “Barge Haulers on the Volga”, “Cossacks”, “They Didn’t Wait”, “Leo Tolstoy on the Plowed Field”, “Ivan the Terrible Kills His Son”, and who hasn’t said in a difficult situation “Repin’s painting “They have sailed””! So it is quite natural that descendants will be interested in a short biography of Ilya Repin, which I will be happy to present.

Biography of the artist Ilya Repin

Childhood and youth

Ilya Efimovich was born on August 5 (July 24, old style) 1844. The painter's hometown is Chuguev, Kharkov province. Father, Efim Vasilyevich, is a retired military man who traded horses, bringing herds from the Don region. Mother, Tatyana Stepanovna, sewed and sold fur coats, was involved in the education of her own children, and even organized a small school for townspeople of all ages, where the Law of God, arithmetic and literacy were taught.

Ilyusha’s gift as an artist manifested itself thanks to his cousin Trofim, who brought watercolors to the Repins’ house and painted a watermelon on a page of the children’s alphabet. Seeing the “revived” berry, as if by magic it had become juicy and bright, the boy was so carried away by drawing that it was hard for his mother to persuade him to put down his brush and eat.

At the age of 11, Ilya began his studies at the school of topographers, which was considered prestigious in Chuguev, but closed two years later. Undeterred, the boy found the first use of his talent in the icon-painting workshop of local artist Ivan Bunakov. And at the age of sixteen he entered adulthood - he parted with his parental family and his first mentor, having received an invitation to join the artel of nomadic gods with a monthly salary of 25 rubles.

In the summer of 1863, Ilya found himself near the city of Ostrogozhsk, Voronezh province, where the famous Ivan Kramskoy was born. Local residents told the artel workers about a fellow countryman, who had left for St. Petersburg and entered the Academy of Arts for seven years by that time. Having heard this story, young Repin saved some money and, following the example of Kramskoy, moved to the capital.

First achievements

The young man's first attempt to get into the Academy was a failure, but he did not make a mistake - he rented a room in the attic and went to a drawing school, where he soon became the best student. Ilya passed the exam the second time, and the famous philanthropist Fyodor Pryanishnikov paid for his studies.

Ilya Repin’s first paintings, painted during his years of study, were awarded several awards, including a large gold medal for “The Resurrection of Jairus’s Daughter” (1871). This canvas brought the young painter his first fame, which reached Moscow. As a result, the owner of the Slavic Bazaar hotel, Alexander Porokhovshchikov, ordered a painting depicting famous Slavic composers from Repin. After many years of poverty, the fee of 1,500 rubles seemed huge to the artist, and by 1872 he coped brilliantly with the order.

At the same time, the young master of the brush continued to work on the first of the most significant paintings - “Barge Haulers on the Volga”. The idea for the painting arose in the late 1860s while working on sketches on the Neva, when Repin was struck by the contrast between the public carefreely walking along the shore and the emaciated people pulling barges with straps. In 1870, he traveled along the Volga, where he made many sketches and sketches, including the “perfect barge hauler”, copied from a Volzhanian named Kanin and subsequently depicted in the painting in the first three.

Completed in 1873, “Barge Haulers” created a sensation both in Russia and far abroad, captivating the public with the author’s ardent sincerity, careful portrayal of the characters and associations of a group of destitute barge haulers with the procession of the damned from Dante’s “Divine Comedy.”

From St. Petersburg to Moscow - via Paris and Chuguev

Along with a large gold medal for “The Resurrection of Jairus’s Daughter,” Repin received the right to a creative “business trip” abroad. He set off on a voyage across Europe with his first wife, Vera Alekseevna, when “Barge Haulers on the Volga” saw the light of day, and his daughter grew up a little. The couple visited Vienna, Venice, Naples, Rome and Florence, after which they settled in Paris for three years, renting an apartment and a workshop. “On the French side” Ilya Efimovich became closely acquainted with the works of the Impressionists, under whose influence he later wrote “Temptation”, “The Last Supper” and a number of other paintings. Directly in Paris in 1876, Repin created an unusual painting “Sadko”, which was mercilessly criticized by art critics, but brought the author the title of academician.

Returning to their homeland, the Repins lived in Chuguev for less than a year. Little Russian (Ukrainian) motifs enriched the artist’s work, including the famous “Cossacks” (1891), composing a harshly humorous response to the ultimatum of the Turkish Sultan.

From his native Kharkov province, Ilya Efimovich with his family and a huge load of “artistic goods” moved to Moscow, where he joined the glorious Association of Itinerants. The Moscow period began with the historical painting “Princess Sophia”, which was ambiguously received by critics, after which Repin created many portraits of prominent contemporaries (composer Mussorgsky, writers Tolstoy and Turgenev, philanthropist Tretyakov, etc.), and began painting the masterpiece “Religious Procession in the Kursk Province” (1883 ), made sketches of “Ivan the Terrible”, “Cossacks” and other famous paintings.

In the meantime, four natural children appeared in the Repin family (three daughters and a son) and young Valentin Serov, who settled in the mentor’s house, became a prominent portrait artist thanks to the patronage of Ilya Efimovich. Repin himself willingly painted portraits of loved ones, and I consider the best of them to be the image of his eldest daughter Vera Ilyinichna, “Autumn Bouquet.”

Again in the Northern capital

Feeling that Moscow began to tire him, the artist with his family and huge luggage moved back to St. Petersburg, where he lived from 1882 to 1900. Here the great works of Repin Ilya Efimovich came out of the brush - the historical canvas “Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan” and the picture of the return from exile of the revolutionary commoner “They Didn’t Expect”.

The name of the latter, many years later, helped to give birth to the expression “Repin’s Painting “They Sail”.” The main version of its origin is that visitors to the Sumy Art Museum mistakenly attributed the work of Lev Solovyov hanging next to them to the works of Ilya Efimovich under the original title “Monks. We went to the wrong place." And the painting “They Arrived” was dubbed by association with “We Didn’t Expect”!

Kuokkala - Repino

From 1900 until his death on September 29, 1930, Repin lived on the Penaty estate in Kuokkala, which in 1918 became the territory of Finland, and after World War II became part of the USSR. Despite the efforts of the Soviet leadership, during his lifetime the great painter did not return to Russia, not wanting to leave his home in old age. But now ex-Kuokkala is called Repino and is part of the city of St. Petersburg.

Ilya Efimovich was married twice. Vera Alekseevna left her famous husband, unable to withstand the hardships of “salon life” and the increased attention of female fans to him. The couple divided the children equally: the eldest Vera and Nadezhda - to the husband, the youngest Yuri and Tatyana - to the wife. The second wife is the writer Natalya Nordman-Severova, to whom Repin moved to Penate. Having fallen ill with tuberculosis, Natalya Borisovna left the estate to her husband, refused his money and went to Switzerland for treatment, where she died in 1914. Their common daughter lived in this world for two weeks.

Ilya Efimovich continued to work until his death at the age of 86, even after his right hand stopped obeying him. The painter learned to write both pictures and letters with his left hand, which in recent years have become his last way of communicating with friends in the USSR.

Repin museums, in addition to Penat, are located in the Samara region, the city of Chuguev and near Vitebsk.

Paintings by Ilya Repin

Born in early August 1844, in Ukraine, in the small town of Chuguevo. His father was a military man.

The future artist received training from a local clerk, who taught Repin literacy and mathematics. At the age of 13, having discovered the boy’s love for drawing and certain inclinations, Ilya was sent to study with the artist Bunakov. From him he received his first skills in using a pencil and brush.

Needless to say, Repin lived a very interesting and successful life. A provincial icon painter comes to the capital of the Russian Empire and successfully passes the exam at the Academy of Arts.

Training began in 1863. The future author of the painting “Barge Haulers on the Volga” studied very well, and in 1869 his efforts and diligence were recognized with a small gold medal, which the artist received for the painting “Job and His Friends.”

Repin was a brilliant artist who earned popular recognition. However, he himself called himself a “mediocre worker” and did not believe in his exclusivity, talent and individuality.

In 1870, Ilya Efimovich went on a trip to the Volga. The journey made a great impression on him, which was reflected on the canvas. In 1873, he finished painting what is perhaps his most famous painting, “Barge Haulers on the Volga.”

The picture created a real sensation in society, and for a long time was one of the main topics of conversation. Let's take a closer look at the picture. Each barge hauler is a portrait individual. This makes the picture more convincing and natural. The artist divided our heroes into groups, comparing individual human qualities and types.

In 1873, Repin went on trips to European countries as a pensioner of the Academy of Arts. While on tour abroad he paints several paintings, the most famous of which is “Parisian Cafe”.

In 1879, he met a historian from Ukraine, who told him a story about how the Turkish Sultan demanded obedience from the Zaporozhye Cossacks, to which they gave a bold and daring answer. The story made a great impression on Repin. For more than ten years he worked on a new painting. In 1891, a new masterpiece of art from the Russian artist was ready. “The Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan” is truly a masterpiece with a stunning plot.

Ilya Efimovich was a versatile artist, maybe this was where his genius lay. Repin was able to work on paintings of completely different genres at the same time. For example, Ilya Efimovich writes a scene from the Gospel, then embodies scenes from folk epics on canvas, and then plays on themes that are fashionable among the people today. Not everyone appreciates this approach to creativity. Repin also painted portraits, the image in many of his paintings was executed so well that it created a keen sense of the realism of the painting.

Repin died in Finland in 1930. Ilya Efimovich Repin did not favor Nicholas II, but many times more, he hated the Bolsheviks. Repin painted the anti-Soviet picture “Bolsheviks”, where a Red Army soldier takes the last piece of bread from a child. Until the last days of his life, the artist did not let the brush leave his hands. The last years of Ilya Repin's work are marked by religious creativity.

Video files about the Great Russian artist Ilya Repin.

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It is very difficult to fit into a condensed text the 86 years that Ilya Efimovich Repin lived intensely. A short biography can only outline with a dotted line the main milestones of his complex life, full of creative ups and downs. There were a lot of masterpieces that reflected true life. Two attempts to create a family life, one unrequited love, friendship with outstanding people of his time and tireless work - this is all that befell a person like Repin. A brief biography (a photo taken 30 years before his death shows a friendly man with laughing eyes) will be outlined below.

Childhood and youth

Ilya Repin was born in Ukraine in 1844 and loved his native land all his life. In the soldier's family, the most educated was the mother, who taught the children by reading to them A. Pushkin, M. Lermontov, V. Zhukovsky. In front of little Ilyusha’s eyes, his cousin painted a picture from the alphabet with watercolors, and it came to life. From that time on, the child knew no peace. And when he grew up, he joined the artel of icon painters, then he heard that there was an Academy in St. Petersburg where they trained to become artists. And, having collected all the money that he earned by painting icons, he went to the capital. This is how childhood ended, when he left his native place, he says that youth full of hope began.

In Petersburg

The capital received him unkindly in 1863. The Academy, since he was not familiar with drawing techniques, did not accept him. But Repin went to the Drawing School, switching to a half-starved existence, and soon his dream came true - he was already studying at the Academy. The first person to notice him was also the harsh critic V. Stasov, with whom Ilya Repin would later be friends all his life. After 8 years, he graduated from the Academy with a gold medal, even got married, had children, and together with his family, as a pensioner of the Academy, went to Europe. For the work “Sadko”, written in Paris, Repin received the title of academician. A short biography says that there he became interested in painting

Historical paintings

The first to be written upon returning to their homeland was the not very successful “Princess Sophia”.

Much later, Ilya Repin would write the work “Ivan the Terrible and His Son.” The artist's biography shows that interest in this theme of love, power and revenge arose under the influence of the music of Rimsky-Korsakov and with a deep study of history.

"We didn't expect it"

The canvas depicts the unexpected return of a revolutionary from exile. Ilya Efimovich tried very carefully to convey facial expressions. He rewrote them often. And the embarrassment of the exile, and the confusion of the mother, who never expected to see her son again, and the delight of the wife and children. Against a light, cozy, homely and native background stands the dark figure of a convict, crushed by life. But he waits and hopes that he will be accepted and forgiven.

In other words, Repin read the Gospel parable in a modern spirit. The artist's biography should emphasize that this work was long and persistent, but the painter achieved the effect he was striving for.

Repin the teacher

Since 1894, Repin taught at the Academy. As contemporaries who studied with him wrote, he was a bad teacher, but a great teacher. He tried to help those in need financially and find them orders. In his workshop at different times F. Malyavin, I. Bilibin, V. Serov studied with him. During the years of the first revolution, Repin submitted a request to leave the Academy, but he finally stopped his teaching activities in 1907. The reason was the dissatisfaction of some students with the fact that teachers live in huge government apartments, and their students are in poverty. Repin, having rented out the apartment, left the Academy and went to Yasnaya Polyana.

Portraits of Repin

Not all of them are equally successful, but “Portrait of M. P. Mussorgsky,” written on the eve of the composer’s death, is distinguished by its great psychologism. “Portrait of Pavel Tretyakov,” which practically never posed for anyone, means a lot to art lovers.

The female images he created of Eleonora Duse, Elizaveta Zvantseva, his daughters, and the second wife of the writer N. Nordman-Severskaya are magnificent. It was she, dying of tuberculosis, who left the artist an inheritance of her estate “Penates”, in which Repin spent the last thirty years of his life. The portraits of Leo Tolstoy, whom he met back in the 1870s, stand out. Repin painted four very famous portraits of the great writer, and a lot of sketches and sketches remained.

Repin: biography and creativity briefly

Dry and lean, Ilya Repin did a lot of literary work in the last years of his life. He wrote the book "Distant Close". In it he expressed his thoughts and creative principles. As a painter, he was primarily concerned not with aesthetic explorations, but with writing with the blood of his heart, the truthfulness of the image without any falsehood. The great artist died in 1930 and was buried in his “Penates” in Finland. The biography, given extremely briefly, does not give a complete picture of the lively, cheerful and good-natured character of the master, despite the fact that his life was always accompanied by personal problems.

I. E. Repin is one of the outstanding Russian artists of the second half of the 19th century. His work personifies the highest achievements of painting by the Itinerants, who strove to make art understandable and close to the people, relevant, reflecting the basic laws of life. Repin did not recognize "Art for art's sake." “I cannot engage in direct creativity,” he wrote, “to make carpets out of my paintings that caress the eye... adapting to the new trends of the time. With all my insignificant strength, I strive to personify my ideas in truth; the life around me worries me too much, does not allow peace, she asks to be put on canvas."

Repin was the greatest realist. His art, based on a deeply realistic basis, answers large universal questions that are a mirror of its time.

Repin was born in 1844 in the city of Chuguev (Ukraine), in the family of a military peasant. His father, a private in the Chuguev Uhlan Regiment, was engaged in horse trading. As a child, Repin was very fond of cutting out horses from paper, which he glued to the window glass, causing the innocent delight of the audience. One day, Ilya’s cousin, Tronka, came to the Repins for a holiday and brought paints with him. Little Ilya’s delight knew no end when he saw how, before his eyes, the gray faceless drawing turned into a juicy, scarlet watermelon with black seeds. Tronka gave paints to Ilya, and since then he has not parted with them, drawing constantly, even during his illness.

Repin received his initial training in drawing at the school of military topographers. But the dream of high art attracted him to the Academy of Arts. When he turned 19, Repin was able to go to St. Petersburg. Here he first entered the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists, and in 1864 he was admitted to the Academy.

The first years of study were very difficult for Repin. He experienced extreme poverty and later recalled this time: “In order to die of hunger, I threw myself into all kinds of work - I painted iron roofs on houses, painted carriages and even iron buckets.” The parents could not help, since they themselves were in great need.

Despite all the difficulties, Repin studied hard. Mastering the basics of artistic skill at the Academy, Repin developed as an artist and citizen primarily under the influence of such exceptional people in art as Stasov and Kramskoy. Kramskoy closely followed the successes of the young artist, talked with him about art, about life, and advised him to paint more from life. Under the influence of Kramskoy, along with completing mandatory academic assignments on mythological and historical topics, Repin also wrote a lot on subjects from the surrounding life. I studied a lot by painting portraits of relatives and friends. But even then, while still at the Academy, he conceived and painted the grandiose canvas “Barge Haulers on the Volga,” which immediately put the young artist on a par with the famous Russian masters.

The canvas "Barge Haulers on the Volga" at the academic exhibition in 1873 became an event in public life. The artist seemed to be able to embody the big ideas of his era in a simple genre painting, creating a monumental work.

In 1871, Repin graduated from the Academy of Arts with the Great Gold Medal, received for a programmatic work on a given topic, “The Resurrection of Jairus’s Daughter.” He also received the right to a retirement trip abroad to improve his skills. He spent 3 years abroad, and returned to his homeland, Chuguev, ahead of schedule. Here Repin works a lot and fruitfully.

Even while working on the images for the painting “Barge Haulers on the Volga,” the artist thinks a lot about the unfair structure of life, about the poverty and lack of rights of the working people. I began to listen to the revolutionary ideas that were actively floating in society at that time. Under the influence of these ideas, Repin creates many works on this topic.

Repin lived a long life. And every minute of it was devoted to creativity. He painted portraits and paintings on historical and everyday subjects. In his old age, he overworked his hand so much that it began to dry out. Then Repin learned to hold a brush in his left hand - he could not live without writing.

His activity as a teacher is also very significant. Repin taught at the Academy of Arts. He also wrote a talented book of memoirs, “Distant Close.”

Since 1900, Repin settled at the Penaty dacha in Kuokkala and gradually moved away from artistic life. After the revolution, the town of Kuokkala remained abroad, in Finland. At first, Russian artists still visited him, but over the years this connection weakened.

Repin painfully experiences his isolation from life and continues to be keenly interested in events in Russia. He really wanted to return, but his daughter Vera was categorically against it, and besides, illness prevented him. On September 29, 1930, he passed away.

Repin's creative heritage is very great. The artist’s popularity in the world has not weakened over the years, since his work is always close and understandable to people.

Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan (1885)

Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan (1885) - fragment

Arrest of a Propagandist (1878)

Repin worked long and painfully on this painting. The arrested propagandist was surrounded at a post in the hut, where he found himself face to face with his enemies. His hands are tightly tied, and he is being held by a witness. Nearby is a sotsky (in the royal village of Russia, a peasant appointed to help the village police). To the left on the bench sits, according to Repin, “a local innkeeper or a factory worker and looks straight at the prisoner. Is he an informer?” The person who stands at the window and, with his hands behind his back, looking at the propagandist, can also be an informer - this is probably the owner of the hut. There is a bailiff standing at the door to the right, reading papers that have just been taken out of a suitcase. The detective bent obsequiously over the bailiff, followed by another - triumphantly extending his hand with a bunch of books. There is a girl at the door; she alone sympathizes with the propagandist and looks at the detective with concern...

And the propagandist?..He will not escape from the hands of the royal hangers-on. He was ready for the fact that sooner or later the day would come when he would be arrested and thrown into prison. And yet how difficult it is to come to terms with this! He knows that he is not alone, that others will take his place. How much strength and determination is in his face, with what hatred he looks at his enemies!

If we consider the picture from a modern perspective, then a completely different perception of the picture is possible, since the results of the revolution are far from being as rosy as Repin and his like-minded people imagined at the time. But then it was a different time and we evaluate the picture based on it.

Barge haulers on the Volga (1870-73)

The idea for the painting originated with Repin when, while walking along the Neva, he saw a group of barge haulers pulling a barge. And in the summer of 1870, he, along with other artists, went to the Volga, where he found himself in the thick of people's life. He observed the barge haulers, their hard work, got to know them and imagined his future picture. Until the end of his days, he could not forget many barge haulers, and above all the defrocked priest Kanin, whom he placed at the head of the barge hauler gang.

Bank of the Volga. The endless Volga expanse, bottomless sky, sultry sun. The smoke of the steamer is spreading far, far away; to the left, closer, the sail of a small boat has frozen... Barge haulers are walking slowly, heavily along the damp shallows. Harnessed with leather straps, they pull a heavy barge. In the first row are the indigenous barge haulers: the sage and philosopher, according to Repin, Kanin and paired with him the same mighty hero, all overgrown with hair. Behind them, Ilka the sailor bent gloomily to the ground and pulled his strap. This strong, determined, seasoned sailor looks sullenly and point-blank directly at the viewer. Following him, melancholy smoking a pipe and not bothering himself with excessive efforts, a long barge hauler in a hat, like a pole, calmly walks. But Larka in a pink tattered shirt is an impatient, mischievous boy who almost drowned when he and Repin’s brother fell under the wheel of a steamer. He is just beginning his life as a barge hauler, but how much fire and enthusiasm he has, how angrily his eyes look, how high he raised his head - he is not afraid of anything, even though he is the youngest of all! And behind the Stall is an old man, stocky, strong, leaning against his neighbor’s shoulder and in a hurry to fill his pipe as he goes; and then a retired soldier in boots, then a huge bearded barge hauler looked back at the barge... And only the last old man became exhausted, lowered his head, and hung on the strap.

Eleven people... Sun-scorched faces, brown-red, hot tones of clothing, sand shallows, reflections of the sun's rays on the river... And the picture is so well developed in breadth that the viewer sees each barge hauler individually, with the special features of his character and how would read the story of his life and at the same time the life of the entire barge gang.

This monumental work made a great impression on viewers when it was exhibited at an academic exhibition in 1873 and became a public event.

Princess Sofya Alekseevna (1879)

Repin's first painting on a historical theme. Sophia was a strong person with an indomitable character. She combined lust for power, statesmanship, education and culture, and at the same time, “peasant”, unbridled rudeness and cruelty.

Repin depicted Sophia in the Novodevichy Convent, in the cell where she was imprisoned in 1697 for organizing a conspiracy and participating in the Streltsy revolt against Peter I.

The princess stands at the window, leaning back, with her hair down, her arms crossed over her chest, defeated but unconquered. Her eyes glow implacably and evilly on her pale face, her lips are compressed, her hair is disheveled. With the last of her strength she restrains the powerless anger and rage that overwhelmed her, written on her rough, ugly face. Sophia gives the impression of a tigress locked in an iron cage... The young blue-maiden looks at Sophia sadly and perplexedly. Nearby, behind the bars of the window, is the head of a hanged archer.

The weak, gloomy light pouring from the barred window enhances the painful mood of the picture.

Procession of the Cross in Kursk Province (1883)

Repin depicted in the painting the carrying of the miraculous icon to the place where, according to legend, its miraculous appearance to the believers allegedly took place at one time.

On a hot afternoon, a crowded procession moves solemnly and decorously along a wide dusty road following the icon. Repin talentedly depicted the sweltering heat that dried out everything around, the dazzling shine of the sun's rays and the deacon's golden robe sparkling in the sun, the swaying of the human sea in the haze of dusty hot air. Depicting the crowd, Repin created a whole gallery of vivid images of representatives of different social classes and classes of post-reform Russia. Continuing the accusatory traditions of Fedotov and Perov, Repin portrays the “masters of life” as arrogant, swaggering, cunning, cynical, far from the “miraculous” icon. They are contrasted with images of simple disadvantaged, sick people, shown by the artist with great warmth and sympathy - sincere, honest, with a pure soul and bright thoughts. They expect from the icon healing from a serious illness, from hopeless material need, and the fulfillment of hopes and aspirations.

Leo Tolstoy on vacation in the forest (1891)

The Timid Little Peasant (1877)

Didn't Expect (1884)

The artist depicted in the work the unexpected return to the family of an exiled revolutionary.

The room of a poor, intelligent family. Everyone is busy. The grandmother is sewing or knitting something, the mother is playing the piano, the children are preparing their homework. And suddenly the door opens and a man enters the room. He is wearing a dark peasant overcoat, a hat in his hands, his face is infinitely tired and at the same time joyful and anxious - will they somehow accept him? He goes straight to his mother. We don’t see her face, we don’t see with what eyes she looks at her son, but her whole figure in a black dress, her hand lightly resting on the chair, suggests that she recognized her son, that in her soul she was always waiting for him. Now his confused and delighted wife will rush to him. The boy also recognized him, all reached out to him, and the little girl looks scared, from under her brows - she does not remember her father. The maid is still standing at the door, having let in a man - an exile who was remembered, but who was “not expected” in the family... It’s a summer day outside. Diffuse light on the bluish-greenish wallpaper, on the maid’s lilac dress, on the floor... The room is full of light, air, the painting is fresh and clear.

The picture did not need any explanation - everything in it is clear, vital, and truthful. The audience received him warmly, enthusiastically, and with understanding.

Autumn Bouquet (Daughter Vera) - (1892)

Rest (Portrait of the Artist's Wife) (1892)

Portrait of L.N. Tolstoy (1887)

Repin wrote to L.N. Tolstoy several times. But the most successful of all was the portrait painted in 1887, in Yasnaya Polyana, in just three days. This portrait belongs to the best portraits of Tolstoy and is very popular.

The writer is depicted sitting in a chair, with a book in his hand. It seems that he only looked up from what he was doing for a minute and was about to dive back into reading. The artist captured Tolstoy with simplicity and naturalness, without the slightest posing. The writer's posture is very relaxed.

Stern, penetrating eyes, shaggy, angry frowning eyebrows, a high forehead with a sharply drawn crease - everything reveals in Tolstoy a deep thinker and observer of life with his sincere protest against all lies and falsehood. Tolstoy's face, especially his forehead, is painted with magnificent plasticity. The diffused light falling on the face reveals the lumpy bulge of this large forehead and emphasizes the shadowing of the deep-set eyes, which from this become more stern and stern. Revealing the character of the writer, emphasizing his importance in society, however, Repin does not idealize Tolstoy, does not try to surround him with an aura of exclusivity. Tolstoy's entire appearance and demeanor are emphatically simple, ordinary, everyday, and at the same time deeply meaningful and individual. A purely Russian face, more like a peasant’s than an aristocratic gentleman’s, ugly, with irregular features, but very significant and intelligent; a fit, proportional figure, in which one can see the peculiar grace and free naturalness of a well-educated person - this is a characteristic of Tolstoy’s appearance, which makes him unlike anyone else.

The portrait is painted in a very restrained, strict silver-black palette: a black blouse flowing in soft folds, a black polished chair with a silver-white glare of light on it, white sheets of an open book, slightly rough in texture. And only the face and partly the hands break out from this general tone.

Looking at Tolstoy’s face, at his heavy, worn-out hands, you involuntarily imagine him not only at his desk, with a book in his hands, but also in the field, behind the plow, in hard work.

Portrait of M. Mussorgsky (1881)

At the beginning of 1881, Repin learned of the serious illness of the remarkable composer Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky. Repin worshiped him, loved him, admired his music. Mussorgsky was in the Nikolaev military hospital undergoing treatment. Repin came to the hospital to see the composer, who was very happy to see the artist.

Mussorgsky was sitting in a chair wearing a Russian embroidered shirt and a robe with crimson velvet lapels. The March sun generously illuminated the hospital room, the figure, the face of Mussorgsky. It suddenly became clear to Repin: this is how it should be written. He brought paints, sat down at the table and began to paint a portrait. After three short sessions, the portrait was completed.

The artist did not hide the traces of a serious illness, which left an indelible mark on Mussorgsky’s entire appearance. With amazing naturalness, Repin conveyed a face puffy from illness, eyes clouded as if faded, and soft, tangled hair. The viewer personally feels this sick human flesh and sees that the composer’s days are numbered. But behind all this, sad eyes that understand everything are very clearly visible, as clear as spring water; His high, open forehead and childishly tender, trusting lips attract attention. And it is no longer a sick, faded man who appears before his eyes, but a man of a big soul and a kind heart, deep, thoughtful, with a broad, heroic nature.

Two weeks later Mussorgsky died. His portrait, draped in black cloth, stood at the ninth traveling exhibition.

Portrait of P.M. Tretyakov (1880)

At first P.M. Tretyakov refused to pose; he did not want exhibition visitors to know him by sight. But Repin convinced that Tretyakov, as a wonderful person, a patriot, the creator of the first national art gallery, should be known by sight.

The artist painted Tretyakov in his usual black frock coat, in the usual pose, when, with his right hand clasping his left at the shoulder, Tretyakov listens intently and attentively to the artist - he visited the Repins almost every Sunday.

Protodeacon (1877)

One of the remarkable portraits of the Chuguev period is the portrait of the Chuguev protodeacon Ivan Ulanov, a drunkard and glutton. With this portrait, Repin becomes a member of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions.

Repin put into the portrait his idea of ​​some spiritual mentors in whom there was nothing spiritual left. This is probably why the image of the protodeacon turned out to be so convincing. Everything about him - a fleshy, flabby face with an imperious, heavy look of small eyes swollen with fat, a steep arch of wide eyebrows, a large, out-of-shape nose hanging over a sensual mouth, a corpulent figure with a bottomless belly on which a short-fingered strong hand rests - exposes a rough, primitive, but strong and unyielding nature, far from Christian ideals, from fasting and humility, filled with all sinful thoughts and earthly passions.

Sadko (1873)

Repin painted this picture in Paris, where he passionately missed his homeland, it seemed to him that in the painting “Sadko” he expressed this longing.

Sadko is a rich guest; at the bottom of the sea he chooses a bride for himself. Italian, Spanish, Greek, French beauties pass by him... But no beauties can compare with the Russian girl - the dark-haired girl whom Sadko is looking at.

Repin asks his friend Stasov to send him from Russia an epic about Sadko, a book about costumes from different eras, and as many drawings of sea plants and fish as possible. Stasov sends him everything he asks for. Repin studies materials, makes sketches, writes etudes...When the artist V. Vasnetsov came to Paris, Repin persuaded him to pose for Sadko. By chance, he managed to get a fur coat with a fox collar and a boyar’s hat from a visiting merchant’s wife. The sketch turned out excellent! The underwater kingdom is also beautifully written - sea plants, monsters, fish, greenish water, all permeated with sunlight. Repin painted the seabed from life in the famous Parisian aquarium. He worked on the picture for a long time, he didn’t like everything, he kept wanting something different. So I finished it, with the thought that the picture was a failure. Whether this is so is for the audience to judge.

Dragonfly (1887)

This painting was commissioned from the artist in connection with the centenary of the State Council. The order was royal, and he could not refuse. For a huge multi-figure painting (more than sixty people) a very short time was given. He was unable to cope alone, so Repin invited two of his students - Kustodiev and Kulikov. The painting, as conceived by Nicholas II, was supposed to depict the moment when Nicholas II had just finished reading the diploma and the secretaries were delivering anniversary medals to the members of the council.

Repin himself attended the meeting of the Council to paint portraits of all members of the council from life, in the poses the artist wanted to portray them. By the beginning of 1904, the painting was ready and exhibited for several days in the palace. The dignitaries who examined her reacted favorably, blinded by their own importance. They did not notice how subtly the artist noticed and revealed the true features of all the “people's representatives.”

This was the last significant painting painted by Repin.

Evening (1882)

Resurrection of Jairus' Daughter (1871)

This is a final academic work on a given topic. It was very difficult to move forward, and after “Barge Haulers” it completely stalled. The soul was not in love with the mythological theme and that’s it! He even wanted to quit the Academy so as not to paint this picture. However, my comrades dissuaded me. And Kramskoy advised: “Look for your own interpretation of the plot...”

And Repin tried, fell into despair and wrote again. Or maybe forget about the fact that the plot is gospel, as Kramskoy said? And suddenly one day it dawned on Repin: to start in a completely new way! He remembered how his sister Ustya died and how it shocked his whole family. And so Repin mercilessly erased everything that was on the canvas in four months and started all over again. I worked all day, not noticing the time. It seemed that he was again experiencing a deep shock from childhood - the death of his sister. By evening, the picture, according to Repin, was so impressive that a shiver ran down his spine. And at home in the evening he could not calm down and kept asking his brother to play Beethoven. The music transported him to the studio, to the painting.

The picture was now painted easily and with inspiration. Repin forgot about the competition, about the Academy. The Gospel story was filled with vital, real content for him. He simply “wrote” human grief and, together with his parents, experienced the death of their daughter. Here they stand to the side, in the twilight of the room, submissive, mournful. At that moment Christ entered the room. He approached the bed on which the girl rested. She seemed to be sleeping. A touching, gentle face, thin arms folded on the chest. Lamps are burning at the head, their yellowish flickering illuminates both the girl and Christ, who has already touched her hand. Now a miracle will happen - it can’t help but happen: the girl’s parents look at Christ so intensely, with such torment of expectation.

The painting was received enthusiastically by the public; fans crowded around this painting at the first traveling exhibition. Repin received a Big Gold Medal for it upon graduating from the Academy.

Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan (1885)

One day in the summer of 1878 in Abramtsevo, a conversation began among friends about Zaporozhye antiquity. Historian N.I. Kostomarov read a letter written in the 17th century by the Zaporozhye Cossacks to the Turkish Sultan in response to his daring proposal to transfer to Turkish citizenship. The letter was so mischievous, written so mockingly, that everyone literally roared with laughter. Repin got excited and decided to paint a picture on this topic.

Repin visited places where the Zaporozhye Sich once was. He became acquainted with the customs of the local Cossacks, examined ancient fortifications, and became acquainted with Cossack costumes and household items. I made a lot of sketches and sketches. And finally the picture is finished.

The day is dying, the smoke of the fires is curling, the wide steppe stretches far, far away. And the Zaporozhye Cossack freemen gathered around the table to write a response to the Turkish Sultan. A clerk writes, a smart man and respected in the Sich, but everyone writes - everyone wants to have their say. The ataman of the entire Zaporozhye army, Ivan Serko, bent over the clerk. He is a sworn enemy of the Turkish Sultan, more than once he went as far as Constantinople and “blowed out such smoke there that the Sultan sneezed, as if he had sniffed tobacco with grated glass.” It was he who probably said a strong word to the general laughter, put his hands on his hips, lit a pipe, and in his eyes there was the laughter and enthusiasm of a man ready for action. Nearby, clutching his stomach with his hands, a mighty gray-moustached Cossack in a red zhupan is laughing - just like Taras Bulba. Exhausting from laughter, the grandfather leaned against the table with a forelock on his forehead. Opposite, on an overturned barrel, is a broad-shouldered Cossack - only the back of his head is visible, but it seems that his thunderous laughter can be heard. A half-naked Cossack savors the ataman’s strong words, and another, black-mustachioed, in a hat with a red top, slammed his fist on his back with delight. A slender, handsome young man in rich clothes is smiling - is this not Andriy, Tarasov’s son?.. But the “didok” opened his mouth wide, wrinkled his face with laughter; a young student squeezes through the crowd, grins, looks into the letter; behind him is a hero in a black cloak with a bandage on his head...

And this whole crowd, this whole gathering of Zaporozhye “knights”, lives, makes noise, laughs, but at the first call of their chieftain they are ready to give up everything, go to the enemy and lay down their souls for the Sich, because for each of them there is nothing dearer than the fatherland and There's nothing more sacred than camaraderie.

In the uncontrollable laughter of the Cossacks at the cruel enemy before the battle, Repin shows the heroic spirit, independence, daring and fighting fervor.

Glinka during the composition of the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila (1887)

On the bridge in Abramtsevo (1879)

Nadya Repina (1881)

Nicholas II (1903)

Arrival of Tsars John and Peter Alekseevich to the Semyonovsky Amusement Court

Seeing off a recruit (1879)

Ukrainian hut (1880)

I. E. Repin born in the city of Chuguev, located on the territory of the Kharkov province, in 1844. And then no one could even imagine that this ordinary boy from a poor family would become a great Russian artist. His mother was the first to notice his abilities when he helped her paint eggs in preparation for Easter. No matter how happy the mother was about such talent, she did not have money for its development.

Ilya began attending classes at a local school, where they studied topography, and after the closure of which he entered the icon painter N. Bunakov, in his workshop. Having acquired the necessary drawing skills in the workshop, fifteen-year-old Repin became a frequent participant in the painting of numerous churches in villages. This went on for four years, after which, with the accumulated hundred rubles, the future artist went to, where he planned to enter the Academy of Arts.

Having failed the entrance exams, he became a student at the preparatory art school at the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. Among his first teachers at school was, who for a long time remained Repin’s faithful mentor. The next year, Ilya Efimovich was accepted into the Academy, where he began to write academic works, and at the same time wrote several works of his own free will.

The matured Repin graduated from the Academy in 1871, already an established artist in all respects. His graduation work, for which he received a Gold Medal, was a painting called by the artist “The Resurrection of Jairus’s Daughter.” This work was recognized as the best for the entire time that the Academy of Arts existed. While still a young man, Repin began to pay attention to portraits; in 1869 he painted a portrait of the young V. A. Shevtsova, who three years later became his wife.

But the great artist became widely known in 1871, after painting the group portrait “Slavic Composers”. Among the 22 figures depicted in the painting are composers from Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic. In 1873, during a trip to Russia, the artist became acquainted with the French art of impressionism, which he was not delighted with. Three years later, having returned to Russia again, he immediately went to his native Chuguev, and in the fall of 1877 he already became a resident of Moscow.

During this time, he met the Mamontov family, spending time communicating with other young talents in their workshop. Then work began on the famous painting, which was completed in 1891. Many more works that are quite well known today were written, among them numerous portraits of prominent personalities: the chemist Mendeleev, M.I. Glinka, the daughter of his friend Tretyakov A.P. Botkina and many others. There are many works depicting L.N. Tolstoy.

The year 1887 became a turning point for I.E. Repin. He divorced his wife, accusing him of bureaucracy, left the ranks of the Association, which organized traveling exhibitions of artists, and the artist’s health had significantly deteriorated.

From 1894 to 1907 he held the position of head of a workshop at the Art Academy, and in 1901 he received a large order from the government. After attending multiple council meetings, after just a couple of years, he presents the finished canvas. This work, with a total area of ​​35 square meters, was the last of the large works.

Repin married for the second time in 1899, choosing N.B. Nordman-Severova as his companion, with whom they moved to the town of Kuokkala and lived there for three decades. In 1918, due to the war with the White Finns, he lost the opportunity to visit Russia, but in 1926 he received a government invitation, which he refused for health reasons. In September 1930, on the 29th, the artist Ilya Efimovich Repin passed away.