Illia repin

Repin is one of the best known of the Russian painters. He was one of the famous “peredvizhniki”. Repin was born in 1844 in the small town of Chuguev, Ukraine, into a family of a military settler. He liked drawing from his early childhood, so his parents sent him to the art school. In 1864 Repin entered the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. There he met I. Kramskoi, a great master and public figure, who influenced Repin greatly.

For his diploma work (1871) Repin was awarded a Major Gold Medal and received a scholarship for studies abroad. He studied in Italy and France. For many years he lived in St. Petersburg and served as a professor and the rector of the Academy of Arts.

Repin’s collection consists of portraits and historical genre paintings. Repin’s first canvas is “Volga Boatmen”. It reflects the hard life of the people. One can see poor men, who are tired by their inhuman labour.

“Ivan Grozny and his son” is the historical painting by Repin. It reflects the historical event that happened on November 16, 1656. Tsar Ivan is shown holding the body of his eldest son, whom he had killed. The Tsar’s eyes in a pale face reflect his soul and the horror of what he had done.

His picture “The Zaporizhian Cossaks Write a Letter to the Turkish Sultan” is very brilliant. The expressive intense composition and psychological insight in rendering the characters produced an unforgettable impression on the spectators. The faithfully rendered spirit of the Zaporoghuus freemen, who, according to the artist had a particularly strong sense of “liberty, equality, fraternity” gives the picture its significance.

Repin painted some pictures on revolutionary thematic. “Unexpected Arrival” is one of them.

Repin is famous for painting of a lot of portraits of great people. He created a big gallery of the portraits of his contemporaries. The portrait of Mussorgsky is the masterpiece of the portrait painting. The great composer is shown ill, before his death, but the painter shows him as the man of strong character.

Although Repin was a realist, his rich colour and restless line often produce an almost expressionistic effect. Some of his paintings show the influence of impressionism and symbolism. The last quarter of the 19^th century is the best period in Repin’s creative work, though his creative activity continued in the 20^th century. The artist died in 1930. He did not paint any masterpiece after the Bolshevik revolution, but he made the great contribution to the development of World art.

Describe the picture by Repin.

“Unexpected Arrival” is one of the outstanding works of Illia Repin. Repin describes the unexpected homecoming of a political exile. His sudden appearance throws the family into momentary confussion and mixed feeling. The whole scene is one of restrained movement. It seems that in a second everything will change: the new arrival will move forward, the mother will rush to embrace him, the boy will jump out of the chair, and the shy frightend girl will cling close to the table, the sun will peeep out. Repin has depicted a brief moment of an unexpected arrival, but he succeeded in painting a picture which helps us to study the life of the people in the 19 th century: a typical images, a typical setting, faithful and characteristic details.one can see the portraits of Shevchenko and Nekrasov hanging on the wall, showing the families favourite poets.