Paintings of Ilya Repin
This Russian Realist Painter Was an Influential Artist
Ilya Repin made social commentaries through his paintings that describe Russia as it was during his lifetime. His art expresses complex emotions and humanity.
Ilya Repin was one of the most important painters of his time. Not only did he paint many important visual social commentaries, but many famous and influential people sat for him as well. He painted contemporaries like Mussorgsky and Tolstoy, but also painted historical figures like Ivan the Terrible. Some of Repin's most striking paintings can be found in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.
Paintings by Ilya Repin – They Did Not Expect Him (1883 – 1884)
This painting by Repin depicts a mother and her children at the moment her husband arrives back home after having been exiled to Siberia. The weariness of the exile is apparent on his face, while disbelief is shown by his wife. The children, who may be too young to remember their father, react in various states of suspicion and delight.
They Did Not Expect Him was painted as a result of Russia's – and Repin's – preoccupation with the revolutionary currents that were stirring society during the 1880s. Repin prepared extensively for this painting by making sketches and preliminary versions of the scene. This is indicative of the depth and complexity of emotion Repin was attempting to portray – and the depth and complexity of the revolutionary issue and how it affected its victims.
Paintings by Ilya Repin – Ivan the Terrible and His Son (1885)
Ivan the Terrible and His Son is another intensely emotional scene. Repin represents the historic tsar as an old man who has done the unthinkable and only realizes it until it is too late. Ivan the Terrible is shown with a stricken expression on his face, cradling the son he bludgeoned to death with a cane.
This painting supposedly shocked its viewers due to its graphic nature. Ivan's son's head bleeds profusely, and the blood runs through the tsar's fingers. However, the most effective aspect of the painting is the emotion conveyed by Ivan the Terrible – who has often been used to critique the leadership of Russia.
Paintings by Ilya Repin – The Volga Barge Haulers (1873)
The Volga Barge Haulersshows the manner in which human beings were often used as pack animals in tsarist Russia. Peasants would do the work of animals when animals were not available, or even when they were. The Volga Barge Haulers exemplifies this aspect of peasant life. A group of worn men in ragged clothing attempt to drag a barge ashore, thick straps cutting into their chests, their bodies leaning forward against the strain. The foremost barge hauler seems resigned to his fate, and his neighbor looks directly at the viewer almost accusingly. The barge haulers depicted in this painting are men, but women would do this work if necessary. Whether hauling barges or plowing fields, peasant life was the roughest of the rough; The Volga Barge Haulers is a testament to this aspect of peasant existence.
It would be impossible to discuss all of Repin's important paintings without going into great detail. Repin painted many more works that describe the issues and people of his time. Each of Ilya Repin's painting exhibit great attention to human emotion, sensitive treatment of visual elements, and awareness of humanity. His sometimes surprising subject matter causes his paintings to be even more magnetic, making Russian history visually accessible for the people of today.
References
Rice, Tamara Talbot. A Concise History of Russian Art. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1963.
Valkenier, Elizabeth Kridl. Ilya Repin and the World of Russian Art. New York: Columbia University Press, 1990.
