Portrait of a man

Ilya Repin prints bring the faces and stories of nineteenth-century Russia onto your walls. Repin was the most renowned Russian painter of his age, famous for great narrative canvases such as Barge Haulers on the Volga and Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, and for his portraits of Tolstoy, Mussorgsky and many others. Our collection of fine art prints includes his major works, portraits, studies and landscapes.

About Ilya Repin

Ilya Yefimovich Repin was born on 5 August 1844 in Chuguev, then in the Russian Empire and now in Ukraine. His father was a retired soldier turned horse trader, and Repin began painting icons at sixteen. He failed his first attempt to enter the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg but was admitted in 1864, where Ivan Kramskoi became his mentor.

A commission from Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich led to Barge Haulers on the Volga, which launched his career and won international attention. Repin then spent two years in Paris and Normandy, where he saw the first Impressionist exhibition and painted outdoors, and in 1880 began a thirty-year friendship with Leo Tolstoy.

His Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan caused a scandal in 1885 and was briefly removed from exhibition, but major successes followed. In 1898 he and his second wife, Natalia Nordman, built a country house called the Penates at Kuokkala in Finland, now a museum. After Finland's independence he could no longer travel to Russia. He died at the Penates on 29 September 1930, aged 86.

Style and Subjects

Repin was a realist who painted people with directness and deep sympathy. His large canvases tell a story through dozens of distinct faces, each a character study, set in real light and landscape.

His portraits catch personality as much as likeness, from Tolstoy walking barefoot to a sick and exhausted Mussorgsky. His colour is rich and earthy, and after his time in France his brushwork became freer, especially in landscapes, studies and portraits of his family.

Famous Works

• Barge Haulers on the Volga (1870–1873), State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg. Exhausted men drag a barge along the river, the painting that made his name.
• Sadko (1876), State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg. The merchant hero in a dreamlike undersea kingdom, painted in Paris.
• Religious Procession in Kursk Province (1880–1883), Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. A vast crowd of every class follows an icon along a dusty road.
• Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan (1885), Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. The tsar clutches the son he has just struck in a fit of rage.
• They Did Not Expect Him (1884–1888), Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. A political exile returns home to a startled family.
• Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks (1880–1891), State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg. Laughing Cossacks compose an insulting letter to the Ottoman sultan.
• Ceremonial Sitting of the State Council (1903), State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg. A huge group portrait marking the council's centenary.

Decorating with Repin Prints

Repin's big narrative scenes, such as the Zaporozhian Cossacks, have the presence to anchor a living room, den or long hallway, and suit rooms with warm woods, leather and deep colours. For a study or library, Leo Tolstoy Barefoot is a natural choice for any reader.

His portraits of his wives and family, and the lighter landscapes such as Forest Clearing near Chuguev, are gentler and fit bedrooms or reading corners.

FAQ

What is Ilya Repin's most famous painting?

Barge Haulers on the Volga (1870–1873) and Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks (1880–1891), both in the State Russian Museum, are his best-known works. Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan is also very famous.

What art movement was Repin part of?

Repin was the leading painter of Russian realism. His mentor Ivan Kramskoi founded the first independent union of Russian artists, which Repin joined.

Was Repin Russian or Ukrainian?

He was born in Chuguev, now in Ukraine, and described himself as a Russian born in Little Russia, as Ukraine was then called. He felt an affinity with both Cossacks and Ukrainians.

What was Repin's relationship with Tolstoy?

The two met in 1880 and were friends for thirty years until Tolstoy's death in 1910. Repin painted a series of portraits of the writer, including Tolstoy barefoot.

Where can I see Repin's paintings?

The State Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg and the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow hold his major works. His house, the Penates, is a museum near Saint Petersburg.

Related Artists

• Ivan Kramskoi: his mentor at the Academy and founder of the first independent Russian artists' union
• Vasily Surikov: Russian realist history painter of the same generation
• Isaac Levitan: Russian realist landscape painter of the next generation
• Ivan Shishkin: Russian realist landscape painter of the same era