A little message about and repin. Ilya Repin. Biography. Family portraits. The fate of children

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ILYA EFIMOVICH REPIN

Repin was an example of selfless devotion to art. The artist wrote: "I love art more than virtue ... I love secretly, jealously, like an old drunkard - it is incurable. Wherever I am, no matter what I amuse, no matter how I admire, no matter what I enjoy, it is always and everywhere in my head, in my heart, in my desires - the best, most intimate. The hours of the morning that I dedicate to him are the best hours of my life. Both joys and sorrows - joys to happiness, sorrows to death - everything in these hours, which rays illuminate or darken all other episodes of my life.

Ilya Efimovich Repin was born on August 5, 1844 in the small Ukrainian town of Chuguev, not far from Kharkov. “I was born a military villager. This title is very despicable - only serfs were considered lower than the villagers,” the artist later wrote. Like many children of military settlers, Repin entered a military school, the department of topography. It was there that his passion for drawing first manifested itself. However, the boy was not lucky, because the department was soon closed. Then, at the urgent request of the boy, his father gave him as an apprentice to the icon painter Bunakov.

For almost four years, Ilya worked in the artel of artists, where he was engaged in painting icons and restoring old iconostases. But he dreams of more. Having saved 100 rubles from church orders, in 1863 the young artist went to St. Petersburg. But he fails to enter the Academy of Arts, because he did not know the classical drawing. Then Repin decides to enter a private drawing school, where I.N. Kramskoy. Soon he noticed a talented young man, invited him to visit him. Since then, their friendship began, which played a huge role in Repin's life.

On the recommendation of Kramskoy, two months later, Repin was accepted as a volunteer at the academy. At the end of the first year for the painting "Lamentation of Jeremiah at the Ruins of Jerusalem" he received the highest mark and became a student at the academy. In parallel with his studies, Ilya attended evenings at Kramskoy's house, where members of the artel of the Wanderers gathered. Communication with them determined his creative credo.

In 1871, Repin completed his studies at the academy by participating in the competition for the Big Gold Medal. He paints a picture on the gospel story "The Resurrection of the Daughter of Jairus." The painting was highly acclaimed at the academy. Repin was awarded the Big Gold Medal, which entitles him to a six-year trip abroad at the expense of the Academy.

In 1873, Repin completed the painting Barge haulers on the Volga. Its plot arose from the artist back in 1868, during a Sunday walk along the Neva.

ILYA EFIMOVICH REPIN

Repin was struck by the contrast between the gang of barge haulers who met and the "pure fragrant flower garden of gentlemen." In his memoirs, he writes that "with their heavy effect, barge haulers, like a dark cloud, obscured the cheerful sun; I was already reaching after them until they disappeared from sight."

In May 1870, together with the artist F. Vasiliev, Repin went to the Volga, where he made sketches and sketches for the planned painting. "Barge haulers" were shown at the world exhibition in Vienna and brought European fame to the artist. It was purchased for his collection by one of the Grand Dukes.

V.V. Stasov writes: "... Not in order to pity and snatch civil sighs, Mr. Repin painted his picture: he was struck by the types and characters he saw, there was a lively need in him to draw a distant, obscure Russian life, and he made of his picture such a scene for which you can find a match only in the deepest creations of Gogol.

In May 1873, Repin went abroad as a pensioner of the Academy of Arts. He travels with his wife and small child, his first daughter, Vera. Repin married in February 1872, Vera Alekseevna Shevtsova became his chosen one.

The artist spent about three years in Paris. He's not happy with contemporary art. He writes to Stasov: "We have nothing to learn here ... they have a different principle, a different task, a different worldview." He writes sketches of the Parisian suburbs, street scenes, portraits (in particular, I.S. Turgenev), conceives and executes a large painting "Parisian cafe".

In 1876, Repin painted a portrait of his wife, half-length, in a gray dress and a black hat with an ostrich feather. The appearance of Vera Alekseevna is full of grace. There is a Parisian taste in her toilet.

In the same year, Repin returned to Russia. Here, already on Russian soil, he paints a wonderful picture "On a turf bench", which is a group portrait in a landscape. Artist I.E. Grabar responded to this work in the following way: "Brilliant in craftsmanship, fresh and juicy, it belongs to the best landscape motifs ever written by Repin."

Repin and his family go to Chuguev, to their native places. Of the works of this period, the etude "The timid peasant" (1877) and the portrait "Protodeacon" (1877) stand out.

Composer M. Mussorgsky writes in a letter to Stasov: “... I saw the “Protodeacon” created by our glorious Ilya Repin. Why, this is a whole fire-breathing mountain! !"

"The Timid Man" and "Protodeacon" were exhibited by Repin at the Sixth Traveling Exhibition in 1878.

In the summer of 1878, Repin spends in Abramtsevo with the Mamontovs.

ILYA EFIMOVICH REPIN

He has been here more than once with his family, worked a lot, painted portraits, in particular, of Mamontov himself and his wife, landscapes and still lifes.

With the move to Moscow, Ilya Efimovich showed interest in Russian antiquity. As a result, the painting "Warrior of the 17th century" (1879) appeared, and soon the more significant painting "Princess Sofya Alekseevna in the Novodevichy Convent" (1879) appeared.

The teacher and friend of Repin Kramskoy reacted very favorably to the new creation of the artist. He wrote that the image of the princess "corresponds to history." But Stasov argued that this topic"not in the nature of Repin's talent, he tends to write only what he sees in reality ... He is not a dramatist, he is not a historian."

Back in 1876 in Chuguev, the artist conceived the painting "The procession in the Kursk province." Repin has been working on this picture for a long time, carefully selecting types. A crowd of different classes and states, brought together by the performance of a religious rite, gave, as it were, a clear cut of the relations that actually exist between the layers of Russian society. The picture is written in such a way that the viewer carefully and in detail examines it, examines the details, individual types, facial expressions, individual episodes, scenes and other details.

Also in Chuguev, Repin painted his first painting on revolutionary theme- "Under the gendarme escort" (1876). Further, the artist repeatedly refers to the image of a revolutionary. In "The arrest of the propagandist" (1880-1889) main character- A young revolutionary, captured by the police. Peasants in the hut with condemnation look at the arrested person. The artist skillfully showed the loneliness of the hero among the people in whose name he gave his freedom.

This cycle adjoins the painting "Refusal of Confession", "Skhodka", "They Did Not Expect" (1884).

"Together with family members, all our attention is on incoming man. He is in worn, well-worn boots, a red-haired Armenian coat, faded in the sun and washed more than once by rains. The eyes are sunken, they look searchingly and expectantly, the lips are habitually compressed, and the fingers, clumsily freed from under the too long sleeve, timidly press the miserable cap to themselves. Once looking at him, one cannot forget those questioning eyes. Unforgettable face!

In the faces and postures of relatives there is a whole gamut of the most complex feelings, expressed in each of them in different ways - joy, amazement, fear; even the indifference of the servants makes these experiences all the more convincing. Everything - every posture of the participants in the scene, the expression of their faces, gestures - is subordinated to a single goal - to emphasize the significance of the ongoing event - the sudden appearance loved one after a long and tragic separation.

ILYA EFIMOVICH REPIN

At the same time, every detail in the picture: the modest furnishings of the room, the portraits of Nekrasov and Shevchenko on the wall reveal the main idea of the work even more deeply, reveal the sympathies and aspirations that the progressive intelligentsia of that time lived," N. Shanina analyzes the painting "They Didn't Wait".

In 1885, Repin completed one of the most famous paintings Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan. The wife of the great chemist Mendeleev recalls: “I will never forget, just unexpectedly, Ilya Efimovich invited us to the studio. Having illuminated the closed picture, he pulled back the curtain. Before us was “The Killing of the Terrible Son.” For a long time everyone stood in silence, then they started talking, rushed, congratulated Ilya Efimovich, shook hands, hugged.

Kramskoy vividly conveyed the impact of this canvas: “First of all, I was seized by a feeling of complete satisfaction for Repin. Here it is a thing on the level of talent! A minute later, the father screamed in horror, rushed to his son, grabbed him, sat down on the floor, lifted him to his knees, and firmly, tightly clamped one hand on the wound on his temple (and the blood was so and whips between the cracks of his fingers), and with the other, across the waist, he presses him to himself and kisses his poor (unusually handsome) son tightly, firmly on the head, while he himself yells (yells positively) in horror, in a helpless position. head, father smeared half (upper) of his face in blood. A detail of Shakespeare's comedy... "Ivan the Terrible" is an extraordinary phenomenon in Russian painting."

The conservative part of Russian society sharply condemned the picture. This point of view was expressed by the prosecutor of the most holy synod, Pobedonostsev, who, in a report to Tsar Alexander III, said that this was a picture that “offended the feelings of the government among many.”

The painting was bought by P.M. Tretyakov, but by order of Alexander III was forced to keep it in closed storage. Only in 1913 the audience saw the masterpiece.

No less famous is the painting "Cossacks composing a letter to the Turkish Sultan" (1878-1891). Repin was fascinated by the idea of a noble mission, which the Cossacks took upon themselves, who created a national knightly order, which set out to protect the free life of their brothers and sisters.

The creation of such a complex, multi-figured work required great efforts from the artist. Already approaching the completion of his work, he wrote in November 1890: I have not yet finished "Zaporozhtsev".

ILYA EFIMOVICH REPIN

What a difficult thing to finish a picture! How many sacrifices must be made in favor of common harmony!.. I do not foresee the end: it is going hard. Completely closed the picture for a while."

For 12 years, Repin worked on a historical canvas depicting freedom-loving people, embodying the sublime spirit of the Zaporizhzhya freemen. Proud self-confidence is inherent in the participants in the depicted scene. The Cossacks send a challenge to the enemy and laugh at him. The artist once again proved himself a master in conveying the expression of human feelings.

"Cossacks" were first exhibited at the artist's anniversary exhibition in 1891. The painting was a success and was purchased for a very high price - 35,000 rubles. The price was so high that even Tretyakov was unable to buy it. The painting was purchased by Alexander III.

The end of the eighties were difficult years for Repin. In 1887 he separated from his wife. Two older daughters, Vera and Nadya, remain with him, and the youngest, Tanya, and son Yuri are taken by his mother. In the same year, Ilya Efimovich left the Wanderers, accusing the Association of bureaucracy. In 1888, he returned, but in 1890 he finally left the Partnership, not agreeing to a change in its Charter.

As a result of all these experiences, mental anguish, creative overstrain of the previous many years, Repin's health deteriorated. On March 7, 1889, he writes to N.V. Stasova: "I just have overwork, it must be all my nerves: I can hardly work ... Only thoughts are gloomy due to malaise. You think you will die, and everything will remain unpainted."

Repin's severe fatigue drew him to the bosom of nature, and the possession of a large amount of money after the sale of the Zaporozhets gives him the opportunity to acquire a well-maintained estate Zdravnevo in the Vitebsk province, on the banks of the Western Dvina. For some time, Repin was fond of his new position - he was engaged in an extension to the house of a workshop and other household chores. Rested, he creates in 1892 lovely portrait daughters Vera - "Autumn Bouquet" and daughters Nadia in a hunting suit with a gun.

Repin went down in history as the greatest portrait painter. He created a whole gallery of portraits of his contemporaries: M.P. Mussorgsky (1881), A.G. Rubinstein (1881), V.I. Surikov (1885), A.I. Delviga (1882), D.I. Mendeleev (1885), P.M. Tretyakov (1883), M.I. Glinka (1887), I.N. Kramskoy (1882), T.L. Tolstoy (1893), A.P. Botkina (1900), V.A. Serov (1901), L.N. Andreeva (1904), N.A. Morozov (1910), V.G. Korolenko (1912), V.M. Bekhterev (1913), P.P. Chistyakov (1914).

Behind every image is an extraordinary personality. I.E. Grabar rightly notes that "such a stunning portrait gallery, which Repin left us, was not created by anyone."

He painted portraits quickly, sometimes seeing his model in fits and starts, even painted from memory, like, for example, Leo Tolstoy lying under a tree.

A real masterpiece is the portrait of the composer Mussorgsky, a friend of Repin, written on the eve of the death of the great musician. Kramskoy, himself a brilliant portrait painter, seeing the portrait of Mussorgsky, according to Stasov, "simply gasped in surprise." Stasov wrote to Tretyakov: "Repin's portrait of Mussorgsky is one of the greatest creations of all Russian art."

Another masterpiece of the artist is the portrait of A.F. Pisemsky. Grabar does not hide his delight: "Here is not just an ordinary portrait of the famous writer ... but out of the ordinary piece of art. One does not need to know the person depicted personally in order not to doubt the strength and truth of this characterization.

In 1901, Ilya Efimovich began work on a grandiose (4.62x8.53 meters) group portrait "The Ceremonial Meeting of the State Council." In the work on the painting, Repin was assisted by his students Kustodiev and Kulikov.

The artist gave a brilliant image of the power of generalization of the ruling elite of Russia. Work on this painting continued for several years. The idea of the painting changed several times in the process of work, and the traditional official portrait gradually turned into a deep epic canvas.

In 1899, Repin married Natalya Borisovna Nordman-Severova for the second time. A year later, he moved to live with her at the dacha "Penates" in the town of Kuokkala on the Karelian Isthmus, a two-hour drive from St. Petersburg. Until 1907, Ilya Efimovich sometimes visited his studio near St. Petersburg, and then lived in Penaty without a break. Guests came to his house every Wednesday. L. Andreev, M. Gorky, V. Korolenko read their works here, F. Chaliapin sang, V. Bekhterev and I. Pavlov came.

Natalya Borisovna was a cultured woman with an imperious character. She organized such an order of life so that Repin could work calmly. Nordman died in 1914 from tuberculosis.

After the October Revolution, Kuokkala is outside the new Soviet state. Repin never returned to Russia. He died in Penates on September 29, 1930.

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Ilya Efimovich Repin. Born July 24 (August 5), 1844 in Chuguev - died September 29, 1930 in Kuokkala, Finland. Russian painter. The son of a soldier, in his youth he worked as an icon painter. He studied at the Drawing School under the guidance of I. N. Kramskoy, continued his studies at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts.

Since 1878 - a member of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions. Academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts. Professor - head of the workshop (1894-1907) and rector (1898-1899) of the Academy of Arts, teacher of the Tenisheva school-workshop; among his students are B. M. Kustodiev, I. E. Grabar, I. S. Kulikov, F. A. Malyavin, A. P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva, N. I. Feshin. The immediate mentor of V. A. Serov.

From the very beginning of its creative way, from the 1870s, Repin became one of the key figures of Russian realism.

The artist managed to solve the problem of reflection in painting of all the diversity of the surrounding life, in his work he managed to cover all aspects of modernity, touch on topics of concern to the public, and vividly reacted to the topic of the day. Repinsky artistic language plasticity was characteristic, he perceived various stylistic trends from the Spaniards and Dutch of the 17th century to Alexander Ivanov and modern French impressionists.

The heyday of Repin's work came in the 1880s. He creates a gallery of portraits of contemporaries, works as a historical artist and master of everyday scenes. In area history painting he was attracted by the opportunity to reveal the emotional expressiveness of the proposed situation. The artist's element was modernity, and even creating paintings on the themes of the legendary past, he remained a master of the burning present, reducing the distance between the viewer and the heroes of his works. According to the art critic V.V. Stasov, Repin's work is "an encyclopedia of post-reform Russia."

Repin spent the last 30 years of his life in Finland, in his Penaty estate in Kuokkale. He continued to work, although not as intensively as before. IN last years he turned to biblical stories. In Kuokkala, Repin wrote his memoirs, a number of his essays were included in the book of memoirs "Far Close".

Ilya Efimovich Repin was born in the city of Chuguev, located near Kharkov.

His paternal grandfather, a non-serving Cossack Vasily Efimovich Repin, was a trader and owned an inn. According to the parish registers, he died in the 1830s, after which all household chores fell on the shoulders of his wife, Natalya Titovna Repina. The artist's father Efim Vasilyevich (1804-1894) was the eldest of the children in the family.

In memoirs dedicated to childhood, Ilya Efimovich mentioned his father as a “ticket soldier”, who, together with his brother, annually traveled to the “Donshchina” and, covering a distance of three hundred miles, drove herds of horses from there for sale. During his service in the Chuguevsky Lancers Regiment, Efim Vasilievich managed to take part in three military campaigns and had awards. Ilya Repin tried to maintain connection with his native city, Slobozhanshchina and Ukraine until the end of his life, and Ukrainian motifs occupied an important place in the artist's work.

The maternal grandfather of the artist - Stepan Vasilievich Bocharov - also gave many years military service. Pelageya Minaevna became his wife, maiden name which the researchers were unable to determine.

In the early 1830s, the Bocharovs' daughter Tatyana Stepanovna (1811-1880) married Yefim Vasilyevich. At first, the Repins lived under the same roof with their husband's parents. Later, having saved up money on horse trading, the head of the family managed to build a spacious house on the banks of the Northern Donets. Tatyana Stepanovna, being a literate and active woman, not only educated children, reading aloud to them the works of Pushkin, Lermontov, Zhukovsky, but also organized a small school, which was attended by both peasant children and adults. There were few academic subjects in it: calligraphy, arithmetic and the Law of God. The family periodically had problems with money, and Tatyana Stepanovna sewed fur coats with hare fur for sale.

Ilya Efimovich's cousin, Trofim Chaplygin, first brought watercolors to the Repins' house. As the artist himself later recalled, his life changed at the moment when he saw the "revival" of a watermelon: a black-and-white picture placed in a children's alphabet suddenly gained brightness and juiciness. From that day on, the idea of transforming the world with the help of paints no longer left the boy.

In 1855, the parents sent the eleven-year-old Ilya to study at the school of topographers.- this specialty, associated with filming and drawing work, was considered prestigious in Chuguev. However, two years later, the educational institution was abolished, and Repin got a job in an icon-painting workshop for the artist I. M. Bunakov. Soon the news of Bunakov's talented student spread far beyond Chuguev; the young master began to be invited by contractors who came to the city, who needed painters and gilders.

At the age of sixteen, the young man left both the workshop and the parental home: he was offered 25 rubles a month for work in a nomadic icon-painting artel, which, as orders were completed, moved from city to city.

In the summer of 1863, artel workers worked in the Voronezh province not far from Ostrogozhsk, the town where the artist Ivan Kramskoy was born. Repin learned from local masters that their fellow countryman, who had already received a small gold medal for the painting “Moses exudes water from a rock” by that time, left his native place seven years ago and went to study at the Academy of Arts. The stories of the Ostrogozhians served as a stimulus for drastic life changes: in the fall, having collected all the money earned during the summer months, Ilya Efimovich went to St. Petersburg.

The first visit to the Academy of Arts disappointed Repin: the conference secretary of the Academy F.F. Lvov, having familiarized himself with the drawings of a nineteen-year-old youth, said that he did not know how to ink, he could not create strokes and shadows.

The failure upset Ilya Efimovich, but did not discourage him from studying. Having rented a room in the attic for five and a half rubles and switched to austerity, he got a job at an evening drawing school, where he was soon recognized as the best student. The second visit to the Academy ended with the successful passing of the exam, but after the entrance tests, Repin again faced difficulties: for the right to attend classes, the volunteer had to pay 25 rubles. This amount for Repin was contributed by the patron - the head of the postal department Fyodor Pryanishnikov, to whom Ilya Efimovich turned for help.

During the eight years spent within the walls of the Academy, Repin made many friends. Among them were Vasily Polenov, in whose house a novice artist was always prepared for a warm welcome, and Mark Antokolsky, who arrived in the capital from Vilna to study as a sculptor and subsequently wrote: “We soon became close, as only lonely people in a foreign land can approach.”

In 1869, Repin met art critic Vladimir Stasov, who for many years was part of Repin's "inner circle". He considered Kramskoy his immediate mentor: Repin was his man in the art artel created by Ivan Nikolaevich, showed him his student sketches, listened to advice. After the death of Kramskoy, Repin wrote memoirs in which he called the artist his teacher.

Years of study brought Repin several awards, including a silver medal for a sketch "The angel of death beats all the firstborn Egyptians"(1865), small gold medal for work "Job and His Brothers"(1869) and a large gold medal for the painting "The Resurrection of the Daughter of Jairus"(1871). Years later, recalling the story of "Resurrection ...", Repin told a circle of artists that the preparation for writing it was complicated by the lack of money. Desperate, the pupil of the Academy created genre painting about how a student preparing for exams watches a girl from a neighboring apartment through the window. Ilya Efimovich took his work to the Trenti shop, gave it on commission, and was surprised when he was soon handed a considerable amount: “I don’t think I have ever experienced such happiness in my entire life!” The money received was enough for paints and a canvas, but their acquisition did not save him from creative torments: the plot of “The Daughters of Jairus” did not develop.

The plot of the first of Repin's significant paintings - "Barge Haulers on the Volga"- was prompted by life. In 1868, while working on sketches, Ilya Efimovich saw barge haulers on the Neva. The contrast between the idle, carefree public walking on the shore and people pulling rafts on straps impressed the student of the Academy so much that upon returning to the rented apartment, he began to create sketches depicting "draught manpower". Immerse yourself completely in new job he was not given academic obligations related to the competition for a small gold medal, however, according to the artist, neither during games with comrades in towns, nor during communication with familiar young ladies, he could not free himself from a ripening plan.

In the summer of 1870, Repin, together with his brother and painter friends Fyodor Vasiliev and Yevgeny Makarov, went to the Volga. Vasiliev received money for the trip - two hundred rubles - from wealthy patrons. As Repin wrote later, the journey was not limited to contemplating landscapes “with albums” in their hands: young people got to know the locals, sometimes spent the night in unfamiliar huts, and sat by the fire in the evenings. The Volga spaces amazed young artists with their epic scope; the mood of the future canvas was created by Glinka's "Komarinskaya" constantly sounding in the memory of Ilya Efimovich and the volume of Homer's "Iliad" he took with him. One day, the artist saw "the most perfect type of desired barge hauler" - a man named Kanin (in the picture he is depicted in the first three, "with his head tied with a dirty rag").

By 1871, Repin had already gained some fame in the capital. At the exam, he received the first gold medal for the painting "The Resurrection of the Daughter of Jairus", the title of an artist of the first degree and the right to a six-year trip abroad.

The rumor about a talented graduate of the Academy also reached Moscow: the owner of the Slavyansky Bazaar hotel, Alexander Porokhovshchikov, suggested that Ilya Efimovich paint the painting “Collection of Russian, Polish and Czech Composers”, promising 1,500 rubles for the work. At that time, portraits of many cultural figures were already placed in the hall of the hotel restaurant - only a “large decorative spot” was missing. The artist Konstantin Makovsky, whom Porohovshchikov had previously approached, believed that this money would not pay off all the labor costs, and asked for 25,000 rubles. But for Repin, the order of the Moscow entrepreneur was a chance to finally get out of years of need. In his memoirs, he admitted that "the amount assigned for the picture seemed huge."

Stasov also joined the work with Repin, who, well versed in music, collected materials in the Public Library and gave professional advice. Nikolai Rubinstein, Eduard Napravnik, Mili Balakirev and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov posed for the picture, Repin created images of other composers, including deceased ones, based on engravings and photographs found by Stasov.

In June 1872, the opening took place "Slavianski Bazaar". The picture presented to the public received many compliments, and its author received a lot of praise and congratulations. Among those who remained dissatisfied was Ivan Turgenev: he told Repin that he could not "come to terms with the idea of this picture." Later, in a letter to Stasov, the writer called Repin's canvas "a cold vinaigrette of the living and the dead - strained nonsense that could have been born in the head of some Khlestakov-Porohovshchikov."

Vera Shevtsova, the sister of his friend in the drawing school Alexander, Ilya Efimovich knew from childhood: in the house of their father, academician of architecture Alexei Ivanovich Shevtsov, young people often gathered. Ilya Efimovich and Vera Alekseevna got married in 1872. Instead of a honeymoon trip, Repin offered his young wife business trips - first to Moscow, to the opening of the Slavonic Bazaar, and then to sketches in Nizhny Novgorod, where the artist continued to look for motives and types for Barge Haulers. Late in the autumn of the same 1872, a daughter was born, who was also named Vera. The christening of the girl was attended by Stasov and the composer Modest Mussorgsky, who "improvised a lot, sang and played."

Repin's first marriage lasted fifteen years. Over the years, Vera Alekseevna gave birth to four children: in addition to the eldest, Vera, Nadezhda, Yuri and Tatyana grew up in the family. Marriage, according to the researchers, could hardly be called happy: Ilya Efimovich gravitated towards an open house, he was ready to receive guests at any time; he was constantly surrounded by ladies who wanted to pose for new paintings; Vera Alekseevna, focused on raising children, the salon lifestyle was a burden.

Relations broke up in 1887. During the divorce, the former spouses divided the children: the older ones stayed with their father, the younger ones went to live with their mother. The family drama seriously influenced the artist.

In April 1873, when the eldest daughter grew up a little, the Repin family, who had the right to travel abroad as a pensioner of the Academy, set off on a voyage to Europe. Having visited Vienna, Venice, Florence, Rome and Naples, the artist rented an apartment and studio in Paris.

In letters to Stasov, he complained that the capital of Italy had disappointed him (“There are many galleries, but ... there is no patience to get to the bottom of good things”), and Rafael seemed “boring and outdated.”

Getting used to Paris was slow, but by the end of the trip, the artist began to recognize the French Impressionists, separately singling out Manet, under whose influence, according to researchers, Repin created the painting. "Paris Cafe", indicating the mastery of the techniques of plein air painting.

Nevertheless, according to the artist Yakov Minchenkov, the new forms until the end of his life "confused him, and the Impressionist landscape painters irritated him." Those, in turn, reproached Ilya Efimovich for "misunderstanding of beauty." A kind of response to their claims was the painting “Sadko” painted by Repin in Paris, the hero of which “feels like in some kind of underwater kingdom.” Its creation was complicated by the fact that it took too much time to find a customer and money; interest in the invented plot gradually faded, and in one of the letters to Stasov, the annoyed artist admitted that he was "terribly disappointed with the painting" Sadko "".

In 1876, for the painting "Sadko" Repin received the title of academician.

Returning to Russia, Repin lived and worked in his native Chuguev for a year - from October 1876 to September 1877. All these months he corresponded with Polenov, offering him to settle in Moscow. The move turned out to be difficult: Ilya Efimovich, as he himself informed Stasov, was carrying with him a “large supply of artistic goods”, which for a long time stood unpacked due to malaria that had fallen Repin.

After his recovery, the artist informed Kramskoy that he had decided to join the Association of the Wanderers.

The initiator of the acquaintance and Repin was Stasov, who, starting from the 1870s, tirelessly told the writer about the appearance of a “new luminary” in Russian art. Their meeting took place in October 1880, when Lev Nikolaevich suddenly appeared in the house of Baroness Simolin (Bolshoy Trubny Lane, No. 9), where Repin lived. The artist wrote to Stasov in detail about this, noting that the writer "is very similar to the portrait of Kramskoy."

The acquaintance was continued a year later, when Lev Nikolayevich, having arrived in Moscow, stopped at the Volkonskys. As the artist later recalled, in the evenings, after finishing the work, he often went to meetings with Tolstoy, trying to time them to the time of his evening walks. The writer could tirelessly cover long distances; sometimes the interlocutors, carried away by the conversation, “climbed so far” that they had to hire a horse-drawn carriage for the way back.

During the twenty-year acquaintance with Lev Nikolaevich Repin, who had been both in his Moscow apartment and in Yasnaya Polyana, created several portraits of Tolstoy (the most famous are “L. N. Tolstoy at his desk” (1887), “L. N. Tolstoy in an armchair with a book in his hands” (1887), “L. N. Tolstoy in the Yasnaya Polyana office under arches "(1891)), as well as dozens of sketches and sketches; many of them remained in scattered albums.

The painting "L. N. Tolstoy on arable land, ”as the artist himself recalled, appeared on the day when Lev Nikolayevich volunteered to plow the field of a widow. Repin, who was in Yasnaya Polyana that day, "received permission to accompany him." Tolstoy worked without rest for six hours, and Ilya Efimovich, with an album in his hands, recorded movements and "checked the contours and ratios of the figures' sizes."

Repin met patron and founder of the Tretyakov Gallery Pavel Tretyakov while still working on Barge Haulers. In 1872, having heard about interesting material brought by a graduate of the Academy of Arts from the Volga, Tretyakov arrived at the St. Petersburg workshop of Ilya Efimovich and, introducing himself, studied the sketches hung along the walls for a long time and with concentration. His attention was attracted by two works - portraits of a watchman and a seller. The entrepreneur reduced the price set by Repin by half and left, promising to send a messenger for sketches.

In Moscow, the business relations that developed between Repin and Tretyakov gradually grew into friendship. The philanthropist visited Ilya Efimovich at home, if it was impossible to meet, they exchanged letters or short notes.

Sometimes Tretyakov suggested to the artist ideas for future works. So, it was he who suggested that Ilya Efimovich paint a portrait of the seriously ill and reclusive writer Alexei Pisemsky - as a result, the gallery was replenished with "an out of the ordinary work of art."

In 1884, Repin received the first "state order": he received an offer to paint the painting "Reception of volost elders by Alexander III in the courtyard of the Petrovsky Palace in Moscow" (the second name is "Speech of Alexander III to the volost foremen"). Despite the fact that the word "order" somewhat weighed down the artist, the task assigned to him seemed interesting - in a letter to Pavel Tretyakov, he said: "This new theme is quite rich, and I like it, especially from the plastic side." To create a background, the artist specially traveled to Moscow to prepare studies in the courtyard of the Petrovsky Palace with the obligatory presence of the sun, the light of which served as the most important element of the composition.

The painting, completed in 1886, was located in the first hall on the second floor of the Grand Kremlin Palace. After the revolution, it was removed and put into storage, and a painting by the artist Isaac Brodsky “Speech by V. I. Lenin at the Second Congress of the Comintern” was hung in the vacant place.

The second wife of Repin was the writer Natalya Borisovna Nordman, who wrote under the pseudonym Severova. Their acquaintance took place in the artist's studio, where Nordman came with Princess Maria Tenisheva. While Ilya Efimovich was working on the portrait of Tenisheva, another guest read poetry aloud. In the spring of 1900, Repin came to a Paris art exhibition with Natalya Borisovna, and at the end of that year he moved to her estate in Penata, located in Kuokkala.

Korney Chukovsky, who, by his own admission, "closely observed" the life of Nordman for several years, believed that the artist's second wife, through the efforts of some researchers, had created a reputation as an "eccentric in bad taste." However, these “eccentricities” were based on sincere concern for her husband. Natalya Borisovna, from the moment of her rapprochement with Repin, began to collect and systematize all the information published in the press about Ilya Efimovich. Knowing that the visits of numerous guests sometimes prevent him from concentrating on his work, she initiated the organization of the so-called "Wednesdays", thus enabling the artist not to be distracted by visitors on other days of the week.

At the same time, as Chukovsky noted, Natalya Borisovna sometimes went too far in her innovative ideas. So, violently protesting against furs, she flatly refused to wear fur coats and put on “some kind of thin coat” in any frost. Having heard that decoctions from fresh hay are good for health, Nordman introduced these drinks into her daily diet.

The open "Wednesdays" in the Penates were attended by students, musicians, artist friends, who never ceased to be surprised that the serving of dishes at the table was regulated by mechanical devices, and the lunch menu included only vegetarian dishes and a little grape wine, called "solar energy". ". Advertisements written by the hostess were hung everywhere in the house: “Do not wait for servants, there are none”, “Do everything yourself”, “The door is locked”, “Servants are a shame to mankind”.

Repin's second marriage ended dramatically: ill with tuberculosis, Nordman left the Penates. She left for one of the foreign hospitals without taking any money or things with her. From financial assistance which her husband and his friends tried to give her, Natalya Borisovna refused. She died in June 1914 in Locarno. After the death of Nordman, Repin handed over the economic affairs in the Penates to his daughter Vera.

After 1918, when Kuokkala became a Finnish territory, Repin was cut off from Russia. In the 1920s, he became close to his Finnish colleagues, made considerable donations to local theaters and other cultural institutions - in particular, he gave large collection paintings to the Helsingfors Museum.

In 1925, Korney Chukovsky came to visit Repin. This visit was the reason for rumors that Korney Ivanovich was supposed to offer the artist to move to the USSR, but instead "secretly persuaded Repin not to return." Decades later, letters from Chukovsky were discovered, from which it followed that the writer, who understood that his friend “should not leave” the Penates in his old age, at the same time missed him very much and invited him to visit Russia.

A year later, a delegation of Soviet artists arrived in Kuokkala, headed by Repin's student Isaac Brodsky. They lived in the Penates for two weeks. Judging by the reports of the Finnish supervisory services, colleagues had to persuade Repin to move to his homeland. The issue of his return was considered at the highest level: as a result of one of the meetings of the Politburo, Stalin passed a resolution: “To allow Repin to return to the USSR, instructing comrades. Lunacharsky and Ionov to take appropriate measures.”

In November 1926, Ilya Efimovich received a letter from Commissar Voroshilov, which said: “When deciding to move to your homeland, you not only do not make a personal mistake, but you are doing a truly great, historically useful deed.” Repin's son Yuri was also involved in the negotiations, but they ended in vain: the artist remained in Kuokkala.

Further correspondence with friends testified to the extinction of Repin. In 1927, in a letter to Minchenkov, the artist wrote: “I will turn 83 in June, time takes its toll, and I become a uniform lazy person.” To help care for the weakening father, his youngest daughter Tatyana was called from Zdravnev, who later said that all his children took turns on duty near Ilya Efimovich until the very end.

Repin died on September 29, 1930 and was buried in the park of the Penata estate. In one of his last letters to friends, the artist managed to say goodbye to everyone: “Farewell, farewell, dear friends! I was given a lot of happiness on earth: I was so undeservedly lucky in life. busy, and now, sprawled in the dust, thank you, thank you, completely touched by the good world, which has always glorified me so generously.

Photo from the 1900s.
photo studio
"Rentz & Schrader"

Ilya Efimovich Repin(August 24, 1844 - September 29, 1930) painter.
Father - Efim Vasilyevich Repin (1804-1894) from a family of military settlers, was engaged in trade, took part in three military companies, and had awards.
Mother - Tatyana Stepanovna Bocharova (1811-1880) took care of her family, organized a small school in which she taught children and adults, sewed fur coats for sale.
First wife - Vera Alekseevna Shevtsova (1856 - 1919). They got married in 1872. There were four children: Vera (1872-1948), Nadezhda (1874-1931), Yuri (1877-1954) and Tatyana (1880-1957). They divorced in 1887.
The second wife is Natalya Borisovna Nordman (1863-1914). They agreed with Ilya Efimovich in 1900 and were together until her death from tuberculosis.
Ilya Efimovich Repin was born on August 24 (August 5 according to the old style) in 1844 in the suburb of Chuguev in the Osinovka settlement of the Kharkov province of the Russian Empire (now the city of Chuguev in the Kharkov region of Ukraine). At the age of eleven (1855), his parents sent him to study at the topographer's corps in Chuguev, and two years later, to the icon-painting workshop of the artist Ivan Mikhailovich Bunakov. At this time, he had a desire to enter the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. By the age of fifteen, he becomes an independent master, customers from all over the district came to him. In August 1861, he received an invitation to work from an icon-painting artel moving from city to city, agreed, and left home.
Having collected money for a trip to St. Petersburg, Ilya Efimovich in 1863 went through Kharkov to St. Petersburg, to fulfill his old dream of entering the Academy of Arts. The first admission was not successful, and Repin got a job at an evening drawing school, where he was soon recognized as the best student. Re-entry to the Academy was crowned with success. By 1871, Repin graduated from the Academy, already having fame, several awards and the title of an artist of the first degree.
Graduation from the Academy gives Ilya Efimovich the right to a six-year trip abroad as a pensioner of the Academy. Pensioner or boarder - a student receiving maintenance (boarding) from the Academy for improvement. The best of the best students who graduated from the Academy with a Big Gold Medal fell into the pensioners. November 29, 1871 in St. Petersburg opened traveling exhibition, which presented Repin's work "The Resurrection of the Daughter of Jairus". It was a big event in the life of artists. For the same picture, he received the Big Gold Medal.
In April 1873, Repin went abroad with his family. He visited Vienna, Venice, Florence, Rome and Naples. In October 1876 he returned to Chuguev. After working here for almost a year, in September 1877 he moved to Moscow. In 1882, after much persuasion from friends, he moved to St. Petersburg.
In 1884 he receives the first state order for a painting and writes "Reception of volost elders by Alexander III in the courtyard of the Petrovsky Palace in Moscow"
In 1894, already having wide fame and the title of professor of painting, Repin began teaching at the painting workshop at the Academy of Arts. His teaching activity continued until 1907.
In 1900, Repin converged with Natalia Nordman and moved to live with her in the Penaty estate, located in Kuokkale, 44 kilometers from St. Petersburg (now the village of Repino, part of the Kurortny district of St. Petersburg). Here he began writing his memoirs. The collection of essays "Far Close" was prepared for publication in 1915, but was published in 1937.
In 1918, Kuokkala became a Finnish territory and communication with former friends remained only by correspondence. Attempts were made to persuade Repin to move to the USSR, but he remained in Kuokkala until his death.
Ilya Efimovich Repin died at the age of eighty-six on September 29, 1930 in Kuokkale and was buried in the "Penates" in the place of the park he himself chose.
The author of such famous paintings: “Barge haulers on the Volga”, “Letter of the Cossacks to the Turkish Sultan”, “Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan”.

Great realist. Repin's painting marked the rise of the Russian realistic school.

Comes from a family of a military settler. Peasants who worked on the land in peacetime were considered military settlers, but were called up for service if necessary. The artist himself spoke of military settlers as despised people who were in the position of slaves. During the years of the birth of Ilya Repin, the family was wealthy, but later it was in poverty. The boy had to earn money by writing icons and portraits. From 1854 to 1857 Repin studied at the school of military topographers. When the school was closed due to the abolition of military settlements, Repin began to study with the local icon painter I. Bunakov, and together with him painted churches in nearby villages.

In 1863, Repin in St. Petersburg, in order to enter the Academy of Arts. He is being trained at the drawing school of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, where he met the young, famous I.N. Kramskoy, with innovative views on art. Kramskoy introduced his student to an environment where the latest ethical and philosophical systems, social and economic problems of the country were discussed. It was in those days when serfdom was abolished, free youth advocated revolutionary theories. All this shaped the work of Repin, the then views on the people, on the intelligentsia, on culture.

In 1864, the dream of a young artist came true, he passed the entrance exam and entered the Academy of Arts. Repin was an exemplary student. Deeply studied academic disciplines such as: drawing, perspective, anatomy.

In 1869, Repin received a small gold medal for the painting Job and His Friends. In 1871, for his graduation work "The Resurrection of the Daughter of Jairus" - a large gold medal.

Yes, on the one hand, Repin, according to the requirements of the academy, painted pictures on biblical themes, but on the other hand, at the same time he was painting a picture that made him famous in Europe. These were "Barge haulers on the Volga" (1870-73), the picture was shown on international exhibition in Vienna.

Ilya Efimovich Repin married in February 1872 the daughter of the architect Vera Shevtsova. At the end of the same year, their daughter was born. Despite the fact that three more children were born in their family, the family marriage was not a happy one. Vera left her husband after learning that he had other women in 1884.

From 1873 to 1876 Repin studied abroad in Europe. He was in Paris, visited Italy and England. The training took place at the expense of the Academy of Arts. In 1874, the first exhibition of the Impressionists took place in Paris. Repin was delighted with the color and light of the new painting, but he did not find social meaning in it.

After returning to Russia, Repin travels to his native place, Chuguevo, for a year, where he works on paintings, on several canvases at once, works slowly and thoughtfully.

In 1877, the Russian artist returned to Moscow, visiting the Abramtsevo estate near Moscow of the famous philanthropist Sava Morozov. Acquainted with Pavel Tretyakov.

In 1882 Repin moved to Petersburg. At this time, he travels a lot around Russia, gaining new impressions. He was in Ukraine, in the Kursk province, in the Caucasus.

The life of Ilya Efimovich Repin was prosperous, he did not experience a lack of funds. In 1891-92 he organized solo exhibitions in Moscow and St. Petersburg, which were very successful.

In September 1894, Repin became a professor at the Academy of Arts and began his teaching career. Students doted on Repin and kept warm memories of him for the rest of their lives. Repin continued to paint, participated in public life countries. So he made a donation to help the starving with money received from the sale of the painting in 1896. He was critical of the tsarist regime, saying that the country was controlled by "a bunch of fools who are ready to bring Russia to the brink of the abyss."

In 1907 Professor Repin left the Academy.

In 1899, Repin bought an estate in the Finnish town of Kuokkala, near St. Petersburg. Here he lived with his second wife, writer Natalya Nordman-Severova. He named his estate Penates, in honor of the ancient Roman gods-guardians of the hearth. In 1917, after the October Revolution, Finland declared its independence, thus, Repin ended up in exile. However, in Soviet Russia, he remained "his". In 1924-25, exhibitions were held in Moscow and Leningrad dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the artist. The Russian artist died in Penaty. In 1940, Kuokkala again went to Russia. Penates were turned into memorial museum. In 1944, the museum burned down during World War II. Restored in 1962. Kuokkala itself was renamed Repino in 1948.

Famous works of Repin Ilya Efimovich

Painting by I.E. Repin's "Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom" was painted by a Russian artist in 1876 and is in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. Actually, this picture was the order of the Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. Repin made sketches in 1873 and finished it in Paris in 1876 during a three-day voyage. Thanks to this particular work of his, Repin became an academician of painting.

Sadko - the main character of the picture - is a famous character of Novgorod epics. From the epics of Sadko, the wealthy sovereign, who equipped the merchant ships, they froze during a calm, and Sadko, by lot, sank to the bottom of the sea, as a sacrifice to the Sea King. Having seen a great many maritime miracles, Sadko marries, at the request of the Sea Tsar, the girl Chernava, having made a choice at the prompt of Mikola Ugodnik. The picture depicts the moment of choosing a bride.

Chernava is a modest girl, hidden in a corner, against the background of the beauties presented for marriage. Sadko stands at the bottom and admires the beauties floating past him. Kramskoy spoke about the unusually deep fantasy of this canvas. It is known from folklore that Sadko brought wealth gold fish, we see it in the background of the picture. Sadko is depicted in rich clothes with a harp.

Portrait of M.P. Mussorgsky (1881) is in Tretyakov Gallery, in Moscow. Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881) - the great Russian composer, author of the operas "Boris Godunov", "Khovanshchina". The fate of the composer is tragic, he suffered from alcoholism and in 1881 was placed in the hospital by close friends. At this time, from March 14 to March 17, Repin paints his portrait, and on March 28, Mussorgsky dies at the age of 42.

The portrait is absolutely realistic, it shows the state of the composer in physical and mental anguish, at the same time conveys the strength of the spirit of the person being portrayed. The portrait is unusually vital, incredibly similar and conveys the nature, character, the whole appearance of Mussorgsky, and yet it was written in just four sessions. Mussorgsky's sad look, but at the same time a face full of dignity, he courageously accepts what awaits him. Tousled hair, a hospital gown dramatize the picture. The nose indicates the composer's illness, which caused his death. And this does not hide Repin.

The painting "The procession in the Kursk province" was written by I.E. Repin in 1880-83 and is kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery. Kursk province at that time was famous for its religious processions, and Repin visited one of them. So he painted a picture that was the final canvas in Repin's genre painting. This picture, in fact, is an encyclopedia of Russian life, it depicts various textures masterfully and masterfully, the coloring is striking in the subtlety of color and shades. Repin was able to accurately notice the poses of the people depicted. Tretyakov bought the painting "The Procession in the Kursk Province", but said that there was not a single pleasant face on it. To which Repin, as a realist, replied: “Look at any crowd and say: are there many “pleasant” faces in it? ..”

In the middle of the procession, clutching the icon to her chest, the discharged landowner importantly “floats”, clearly realizing her superiority over others. Next to her marches a retired military man (somewhat caricatured), a smug contractor and a rude village head, driving away with a stick ordinary people. On the right - smartly dressed peasants carry a lantern decorated with a ribbon - they are filled with all the seriousness of the situation, believers. A policeman on horseback swings a whip at a delinquent peasant. A priest in a ceremonial cassock walks, waving a censer. He is also serious, although it is noticeable that most of all in what is happening, he likes himself. In the foreground, a crippled hunchback almost “flies” forward, devoutly believing in miraculous healing. He is driven aside by one of the tenths, who surrounded the procession with a chain. In the sketches, Repin depicted the face of a hunchback in torment and suffering. In the final version, it is spiritualized.

The painting “The Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan” was painted by I.Ya. Repin in 1878-91, it can be seen in the State Russian Museum, in St. Petersburg. For more than ten years, the Russian artist worked on this painting, making changes to the composition of the painting, clarifying its historical content. In 1676, furious at the Cossacks for the extermination of his 15,000th army, the Turkish Sultan Makhtud IV ordered them to surrender and become his subjects, threatening to destroy the Cossacks. To which he received a mocking letter. Repin captured the moment of writing the letter. This plot was written by Gogol in the story "Taras Bulba". Repin traveled to Ukraine twice to paint this canvas. He writes about the Cossacks as a people of freedom, equality and brotherhood.

On the right, clutching his sides, a mighty, resolute and straightforward Cossack in a white fur hat (Gogol's "Taras Bulba") laughs uncontrollably. Gogolevsky Andrey smiles softly. Immediately wounded with a contemptuous, resolute look, a Cossack. A naked to the waist Cossack with a strong "bull" neck in many ways symbolizes the "physical" and "moral" nature of the Zaporizhzhya freemen. The leader of the Cossacks bent over the letter. He looks at his comrades with a sly, burning look, clearly enjoying the mocking phrase that was just “born”.

Masterpiece I.E. Repin - painting "They didn't wait"

The widely known and recognized work of I.E. Repin "They Didn't Wait" was written in 1884-88, is in the State Tretyakov Gallery, in Moscow. The plot of this picture is the return home of an exiled revolutionary. Repin thought over the composition of the picture to the smallest detail. It seems to the viewer that he is in the room behind the shockedly frozen mother of the returned son. The viewer becomes a participant in what is happening. The picture interestingly solves the problem of the space of adjacent rooms and the intersecting views of its characters. Here Repin chose an asymmetric composition and marked the space with the help of floorboards, the receding floorboards riveting the viewer's eye to an unexpected guest. People are depicted in groups separated by space, side lighting is used. The returning revolutionary looks at his mother with an inquiring gaze, his thin face almost in shadow, which emphasizes the hollowness of his eyes. The plot of the "resurrection from the dead" is confirmed by the mourning clothes of the son and mother and, of course, the engraving from the painting dedicated to the passions of the Lord, hanging over the head of the revolutionary's wife among the portraits. Repin portrayed children: the daughter, who does not remember her father, is frightened, and the boy is filled with joy and excitement. The views, gestures, poses of the characters in the picture are very expressive, but not unambiguous.

Refusal to confess

Barge Haulers on the Volga

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

Guess what we're talking about? Yes, this artist is Repin Ilya Efimovich. Who does not know his paintings "Barge haulers on the Volga", "Cossacks", "They did not wait", "Leo Tolstoy on arable land", "Ivan the Terrible kills his son", and who did not say in a difficult situation "Repin's painting "Sailed""! So it is quite natural interest of descendants is short biography Ilya Repin, which I will present with pleasure.

Biography of the artist Ilya Repin

Childhood and youth

Ilya Efimovich was born on August 5 (July 24, old style), 1844. Hometown painter - Chuguev, Kharkov province. Father, Efim Vasilievich - a retired military man who traded horses, bringing herds from the Don region. Mother, Tatyana Stepanovna, sewed and sold fur coats, did a lot of educating 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 talent as an artist manifested itself thanks to his cousin Trofim, who brought watercolors to the Repins' house and painted a watermelon on the page of the children's alphabet. Seeing the “revived” berry, which, as if by magic, became juicy and bright, the boy was so carried away by drawing that it was hard for his mother to persuade him to put down the 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. Not at a loss, the youth found the first use of his talent in the icon-painting workshop of the local artist Ivan Bunakov. And at the age of sixteen he entered adulthood - he parted ways with his parental family and his first mentor, having received an invitation to the artel of nomadic Bogomazes 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 their fellow countryman, who by that time had left for St. Petersburg for seven years and entered the Academy of Arts. Having heard this story, young Repin saved up some money and, following the example of Kramskoy, went to the capital.

First achievements

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

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

In parallel, 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 River, when Repin was struck by the contrast between the public carelessly walking along the shore and exhausted people pulling barges on straps. In 1870, he traveled along the Volga, where he made many sketches and sketches, including the “perfect barge hauler”, written off from a Volzhan named Kanin and subsequently depicted in the picture in the top three.

Completed in 1873, "Barge haulers" made a splash both in Russia and far abroad, captivating the public with the author's ardent sincerity, careful portrayal of 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

Together with a large gold medal for "The Resurrection of the Daughter of Jairus", Repin received the right to a creative "business trip" abroad. He went on a trip to Europe with his first wife, Vera Alekseevna, when the Barge Haulers on the Volga saw the light of the 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. “In the French side” Ilya Efimovich became closely acquainted with the works of the Impressionists, under whose influence he later wrote “The Temptation”, “ last supper and a number of other paintings. Directly in Paris in 1876, Repin created the unusual painting "Sadko", which was mercilessly criticized by art critics, but brought the title of academician to the author.

Returning to their homeland, the Repin couple lived in Chuguev for less than a year. Little Russian (Ukrainian) motifs enriched the artist's work, including the famous "Zaporozhians" (1891), composing a harshly humorous response to the Turkish sultan's ultimatum.

From his native Kharkov province, Ilya Efimovich moved to Moscow with his family and a huge load of "artistic goods", where he joined the glorious Association of Wanderers. The Moscow period began with an ambiguously perceived by critics historical picture"Princess Sophia", after which Repin created many portraits of prominent contemporaries (composer Mussorgsky, writers Tolstoy and Turgenev, philanthropist Tretyakov, etc.), began to write the masterpiece "Religious procession in the Kursk province" (1883), made sketches of "Ivan the Terrible", "Zaporozhtsev" and other famous paintings.

In the meantime, four native 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 painter thanks to the patronage of Ilya Efimovich. Repin himself willingly painted portraits of loved ones, and I consider the image of the eldest daughter of Vera Ilyinichna “Autumn Bouquet” to be the best of them.

Back 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 from under the brush - the historical canvas "Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan" and the picture of the return from exile of a revolutionary raznochinets "They did not wait."

The name of the latter, many years later, helped to give birth to the expression "Repin's painting "Sailed"". The main version of its origin - visitors to Sumy art museum by mistake, they attributed to the works of Ilya Efimovich the work of Lev Solovyov hanging next to them under the original title “Monks. We didn't go there." And the painting “Sailed” was dubbed by association with “They didn’t wait”!

Kuokkala - Repino

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

Ilya Efimovich was married twice. Vera Alekseevna left famous husband, unable to withstand the hardships of "salon life" and increased attention to him by fans. The couple divided the children equally: the elders Vera and Nadezhda - to her husband, the younger Yuri and Tatyana - to his wife. The second wife is the writer Natalya Nordman-Severova, to whom Repin moved to the Penates. Having fallen ill with tuberculosis, Natalya Borisovna left the estate to her husband, refused his money and left for treatment in Switzerland, 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 he ceased to obey right hand. The painter learned to write with his left hand both pictures and letters, which in recent years have become for him the last way to communicate with friends in the USSR.

Repin's museums, except Penat, are located in the Samara region, Chuguev and near Vitebsk.