Ilya Repin: The Russian Soul on Canvas

by Grigori Sternin, Jelena Kirillina

Ilya Repin was the most gifted of the group known in Russia as "The Itinerants". When only twelve years old, he joined Ivan Bounakov's studio to learn the icon-painter's craft. Religious representations always remained of great importance for him. From 1864 to 1873 Repin studied at the Academy of the Arts in Saint Petersburg under Kramskoï. Repin also studied in Paris for two years, where he was strongly influenced by outdoor painting without, becoming an Impressionist, a style that he judged too distant from reality. Taken with French pictorial culture, he worked to understand its role in the evolution of contemporary art. Most of Repin's powerful work deals with the social dilemmas of Russian life in the nineteenth century. He established his reputation in 1873 with the celebrated picture Barge Haulers on the Volga, symbol of the oppressed Russian people pulling their chains. This struggle against the autocracy inspired many works. He also painted Russia's official history in such works as Ivan the Terrible Meditating at the Deathbed of his Son Ivan. Seen as one of the masters of realist painting, he devoted himself to portraying the lives of his the most renowned Russian writers, artists, and intellectuals; peasants at work; the faithful in procession; and revolutionaries on the barricades. He understood the pains of the people perfectly, as well as the needs and the joys of ordinary lives. Kramskoï said on this "Repin has a gift for showing the peasant as he is. I know many painters who show the moujik, and they do it well, but none can do so with as much talent as Repin."Repin's works, which depart from the academic constraints of their predecessors, are both delicate and powerful. He achieved a superior mastery of skill, and found new accents to transcribe the many-coloured and brilliant vibrations he sensed in the ordinary world around him.

Genres: Art, Russia, Nonfiction

255 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1978

Reviews

[darkaohdarka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the way you guys are calling a Chuhuiv-born (Kharkiv Oblast) artist “russian” one. For the next reading try to grab another book like an atlas or something

[Agnes Preszler · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a fabulous book, no wonder that is selling out in a few days, great value for the money. The reproductions are of good quality, and Repin is, of course, an indiscussed master.

[Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Brilliant Russian Painter Honored

Though quite famous in his time, the works of this very important artist are only now gaining the recognition they deserve. This book is a fine introduction. According the the facts in the text ' Ilya Repin, (1844 - 1930) was a leading Russian painter and sculptor of the Peredvizhniki artistic school. An important part of his work is dedicated to his native country, Ukraine. His realistic works often expressed great psychological depth and exposed the tensions within the existing social order. Beginning in the late 1920s, detailed works on him were published in the Soviet Union, where a Repin cult developed about a decade later. He was held up as a model "progressive" and "realist" to be imitated by "Socialist Realist" artists in the USSR. Repin was born in the town of Chuhuiv near Kharkiv in the heart of the historical region called Sloboda Ukraine. His parents were Russian military settlers. In 1866, after apprenticeship with a local icon painter named Bunakov and preliminary study of portrait painting, he went to Saint Petersburg and was shortly admitted to the Imperial Academy of Arts as a student. From 1873 to 1876 on the Academy's allowance, Repin sojourned in Italy and lived in Paris, where he was exposed to French Impressionist painting, which had a lasting effect upon his use of light and colour. His style was to remain closer to that of the old European masters, especially Rembrandt, and he never embraced Impressionism.

Throughout his career, Repin was drawn to the common people from whom he traced his origins. He frequently painted country folk, both Ukrainian and Russian, though in later years he also painted members of the Imperial Russian elite, the intelligentsia, and the aristocracy, including Tsar Nicholas II. In 1878, Repin joined the free-thinking group, "The Itinerants." About the time of his arrival in the capital, a core group of students rebelled against the academic formalism of the Imperial Academy. Repin's fame was established by his painting of the 'Barge Haulers on the Volga', a work which portrayed the hard lot of the poor folk and is beautifully represented in this book by both the full painting and the preliminary sketches. From 1882 Repin lived in Saint Petersburg but visited his Ukrainian homeland and on occasion made tours abroad. He died in Finland and his home there is now a museum to display his works.

But enough of the history. The glory of this particular book is the rich reproductions of his works, and while they are not all as clear as in other fine art books, the color saturation and attention to brushstroke detail does justice to the works of this important artist. Much space is given t his major paintings, especially the intensely dramatic 'Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan, 1581' as profoundly moving a painting as exists, and the St Nicholas Saves Three Innocents, Job and his Friends, and Religious Procession in Kursk Province. But it is to the books advantage that it details the many portraits Repin created of the art giants of his time. His 'Slavic Composers' recreates Chopin and Smetana in a contemporary setting with other great composers. His portraits of artists include Mussorgsky, Balakirev, Glazanov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Glinka, Rubenstein, Cui and other composers, poets, writers (Tolstoy, et al) - a fact that points out how very rich is Russia's heritage in the arts.

The book is written and researched by Grigori Sternin and Jelena Kirillina - both fine writers and communicators. This is an excellent art book and is at enormously affordable price for the quality bestowed on the subject. Highly Recommended.

Grady Harp

[Malik Purvis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glorifies him too much, but I did gain insight into the man; I feel like a lot was left out about the narratives of his paintings and the structure. Although, I did appreciate the drawings it doesn't look much into how they played into his paintings either-- but it does slightly explore the literary and social influences on his paintings which I like, but his palette and his exploration of medium are literally undefined here.

I feel a certain lacking in this book, but it does well for a 200 page book with mostly illustrations (which are on point mind you).