Ilya Yefimovich Repin (1844-1930) is the most celebrated painter from 19th century Russia, and from the works below you can see how he rightfully attained such a standing.
I heartily recommend clicking to enlarge the images, the expressions on the faces and the tiny touches of light are breathtaking, especially the picture at the top of the Volga boatmen.
Repin was born into a relatively poor military family and he himself went to military school in what became modern day Ukraine. In later life Repin admitted that his childhood wasn’t particularly happy due in large part to his constant military surroundings.
In the 1870’s Repin spent some time working with the Salon in Paris and moved to Moscow in 1876. Later in life he travelled to Austria, Italy and Germany to further display his wonderous works, soak up inspiration and hone new techniques.
As a man of less than noble birth, his paintings often revolved around the interests and subject matter of peasants and peasantry. One of his artist buddies – Kramskoi – wrote of Repin…
Repin is capable of depicting the Russian peasant exactly as he is. I know many artists who have painted peasants, some of them very well, but none of them ever came close to what Repin does.
Repin befriended all of the big names in Russian painting at the time and forged a close relationship with Leo Tolstoy.
Throughout his life Repin had a thirst for knowledge and new techniques. He was obsessed with improving and creating paintings which sparkled with vibrant and palpable realism.
He worked slowly and thoroughly, sometimes making hundreds of preliminary sketches before putting paint to canvass. He was never really happy with his own works and would often make multiple versions of a single painting, sometimes years apart.
Repin was the first Russian painter to achieve critical acclaim in Europe and became the leader of a movement within Russian art called critical realism.
Repin painted all the way up until his death in 1930 leaving hundreds of incredible paintings and sketches as his eternal legacy…
