Ilya Repin: biography and facts from life. Repin I.E.

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 poor family will 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 lessons at a local school, where topography was taught, 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 preparatory student 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 widely known great artist became 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 the artist, he met French art impressionism, which I 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 were written that are quite well known today, including numerous portraits outstanding personalities: chemist Mendeleev, M.I. Glinka, 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 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, having a total area of 35 square meters, became the last of the great 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.

I.E. Repin is one of the outstanding Russian artists of the second half of the 19th century. His work personifies highest achievements painting
peredvizhniki, 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 sorts 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 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.

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 and other artists went to the Volga, where he found himself in the thick of folk 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: a 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.

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.

Returning from abroad to his native Chuguev, Repin tried to communicate directly with ordinary people, with peasants, to draw new images and themes for their creativity. “The timid little man” is one of them. Probably, the artist was interested in this peasant with the inquisitive gaze of his smart, wise eyes?

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.

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 pure soul and bright thoughts. They are waiting for healing from the icon serious illness, from hopeless material need, from the fulfillment of hopes and aspirations.

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.

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 recognized him and was all drawn to him, and the little girl looked scared, from under her brows - she did 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.

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. She is from last bit of strength restrains the impotent 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 maidservant 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.

Once Repin was at a concert where Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Revenge” was performed. “She made an irresistible impression on me,” said Repin. “These sounds captured me, and I thought whether it would be possible to embody in painting the mood that was created in me under the influence of this music. I remembered Tsar Ivan...” And Repin began for working on the painting.

Began preparatory work. It was necessary to look for nature. The Terrible was based on a laborer who resembled Tsar Ivan. And the writer Vsevolod Mikhailovich Garshin posed for the prince. “I was struck by the doom in Garshin’s face; he had the face of one doomed to perish. This was what I needed for my prince.” - wrote Repin. It should be said that 3 years after painting Garshin died, jumping from the fifth floor of a psychiatric hospital, where he was admitted due to illness.

To make the picture more lively, the artist studied all the features of that era, costumes, and furnishings. He himself cut the suits for Grozny and for the prince. He painted curls on high boots with curved toes. “I worked as if spellbound,” wrote Repin. I didn’t want to rest or be distracted from the picture.

And now the picture is finished. One Thursday evening, friends, acquaintances, and artists gathered. Repin pulled back the curtain...

Twilight twilight of the royal chambers, gloomy walls in dark crimson and dark green checkers, a floor covered with red patterned carpets, an overturned chair. a thrown rod and in the center two illuminated figures: father and son.

Repin portrayed the formidable Tsar Ivan IV at the moment of terrible mental shock. The uncontrollable, blind anger, in the fit of which the prince was dealt a fatal blow with a rod, was replaced by the consciousness of the irreparability of what he had done, insane, almost animal fear and repentance. The tsar’s senile face with frozen, sharpened features is pitiful and at the same time scary in its loss and despair. In comparison, the face of the dying prince looks much more peaceful, humane, and alive. It becomes this way thanks to the prince’s overwhelming feelings - pity for his father and forgiveness. They purify his soul, elevate it above the small ones, unworthy of a person passions that caused his death. The murder has happened. And now before us is not a king, but a father. He frantically hugs his son, squeezes the wound, tries to stop the bleeding. And in the eyes there is unbearable torment, pity, love...

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 write 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 reached 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 ataman 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.

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 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, emphasizing 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.

Repin painted portraits of Tolstoy many times. In 1891, he depicted the writer lying with a book under a tree in Yasnaya Polyana.

Tolstoy lies in a cozy place, under the trees in the shade, on his blue robe, covered with white. The sunbeams, speckling the writer's white robe, jumping everywhere - on clothes, grass, foliage of trees - give the picture an inexplicable charm. Repin himself considered this painting beautiful. He enjoyed the spectacle of a great man's rest, when his body, tired from years, and perhaps from physical work done, needed rest, and his tireless and vigorous spirit insistently demanded food for its incessant activity.

They are distinguished by heartfelt lyricism female portraits. This is a portrait of the artist's wife.

With great love, Repin painted a portrait of his daughter Vera with a large bouquet of flowers against the backdrop of an autumn landscape.

At the beginning of 1881, Repin learned about 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, the pure, like spring water, sad, understanding eyes; 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 great soul and kind heart, deep, thinking, broad, heroic nature.

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

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 truly reflect different periods 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 his entry into the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts as a full member.

The village in which Repin lived became part of Finland after the October Revolution. 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 was able to unusually sensitively and carefully see and depict on canvas various aspects of 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 mentioned sketch “On a Dirt Road”, 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 of the second half of the 19th century was the canvas “Religious Procession in the Kursk Province,” painted 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, developing 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 - a typical phenomenon of old Russia, the artist at the same time showed a broad and multifaceted picture of 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 of public life, involved in social and artistic thought 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, marking the highest point of 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 – outstanding master 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 daughter - "In the Sun" are 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.” Historical legend the story of how the Cossacks, free Cossacks, responded to the order 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 folk culture well. 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 the difficult conditions and difficult surroundings, the artist continued to live through art. The last picture, on which he worked was “Gopak. Dance of the Zaporozhye Cossacks", dedicated to memory his favorite composer M.P. Mussorgsky.

Ilya Repin created truly realistic canvases, which are still a treasure trove art galleries. Repin is called a 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 happened to 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 “A 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.

Repin Ilya Efimovich is a great Russian artist. Born on July 24 (August 5), 1844 in Chuguev in the family of a military settler. Ilya Repin received his first artistic skills at the local school of military topographers (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; Based on numerous sketches, mostly written during a trip along the Volga, the young Ilya Repin created a picture that was impressive both for the vivid expressiveness of nature and the formidable force of protest ripening 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, Russian Museum) Repin enthusiastically paints picturesque images of the front façade of the empire (Reception of the volost elders by Alexander III in the courtyard of Petrovsky). palace in Moscow, 1885, ceremonial meeting State Council May 7, 1901 in honor centenary anniversary from the day 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 Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, painted during the artist’s stay in Yasnaya Polyana - in 1891 and later), graceful secular portraits (Baroness Varvara Ivanovna Iskul). 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 the mysterious picture, what space! (1903, Russian Museum) - with a young couple rejoicing on the icy shore of the Nevsky 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 painted 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.

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 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 watercolors to the house. 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 the 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 parents' house- the young artist was 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. Someone from local residents told Ilya about a talented fellow countryman who left his 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 dampen Repin's desire - he rented a room and got a job at an evening school, where he was very soon named the school's best student.

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 to Honeymoon for sketches 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 am filled with trepidation and go... “Oh, look, maman, 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 a huge 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.