Ilya Repin (1844-1930) was a Russian artist, a master of genre composition and portraiture. During his long life, Repin painted many outstanding paintings, but it was the painting "Barge Haulers on the Volga" that was recognized by many art critics and ordinary art lovers as the best. Everyone knows about this painting from school, but in this article we will try to open some moments of its creation in a new way and try to figure out who were the real prototypes of the barge haulers and why it was considered an absolute masterpiece?
Barge haulers on the Volga
Ilya Repin painted "Barge Haulers on the Volga" at the height of his creative and physical powers - 30 years old. After them there were many more paintings, and such masterpieces as "The Zaporozhian Cossacks Write a Letter to the Turkish Sultan", "Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan", "They Didn't Expect Him", but it is the barge haulers that are mainly associated with Repin. Ask even the most ignorant person: "What did Repin paint?" and you will get the right answer, although it would be good not to get a slap on the wrist for stupid questions :)
The painting has always been famous - both before the 1917 revolution and in the Soviet Union. Then it was declared truly proletarian, since it depicted the harsh labor of the barge haulers and cast a shadow on the order of the 19th century, forcing people to take on such incredibly hard work to the point of exhaustion. Reproductions were printed wherever possible - many calendars, stamps, postcards with this painting were published. Schoolchildren wrote an essay on it, teachers said that such a thing could not happen in the Soviet Union and we sincerely believed them.
In general, Repin was not a pioneer in this topic. Many artists painted barge haulers before him. For example, the remarkable landscape artist Alexei Savrasov, the author of that famous painting "The Rooks Have Come Back". It's a pity that he became very addicted to alcohol and died of drunkenness. You can read about the four seasons in Savrasov's life on our channel. But Savrasov painted this picture in his own style - a superbly drawn sky, a familiar Volga landscape and barge haulers as part of the landscape, nothing more. There is no trace of detailed drawing of barge haulers and an emphasis on them like in Repin.
You should not think that barge haulers went exclusively on the Volga and this is a typical Russian phenomenon. No, their work was widely used even in enlightened Europe and there are several paintings by European artists on this topic.
Telemaco Signorini. Barge haulers. 1864
For example, the Italian artist Telemaco Signorini painted five barge haulers pulling a barge or a ship with visible effort - it is impossible to determine in the painting. But in the background there is a well-dressed gentleman strolling with a little girl. They, apparently, were supposed to show the contrast between the rich and the poor, forced to take on such damned work. In the 19th century, the problem of social inequality worried many artists and educated people not only in Russia.
Repin also planned to place several strolling summer residents in the painting with barge haulers, and if he had carried out his plan, the protest in the painting regarding the existing order of things in the Russian Empire would have looked much more substantial. By the way, he was prompted to paint the canvas by the barge haulers he saw on the Neva in 1868, pulling a heavy barge, and cheerful, festively dressed summer residents strolling nearby. The contrast was striking, and that was exactly what Repin wanted to depict. But Repin was dissuaded from such a step by the artist Fyodor Vasiliev, whom many art lovers know from his excellent painting "Wet Meadow"
Fyodor Vasiliev. Wet Meadow
Repin painted Barge Haulers for a long time and painfully. It is known that in 1870, after two years of hard work, Barge Haulers on the Volga was released, was shown at an exhibition and naturally received a medal. And then Repin began to rework the painting again, on the same canvas. That is why we will never be able to see that very version of 1870. In order to finish "Barge Haulers on the Volga", Repin even refused a trip to Europe, which was paid for by the Academy of Arts, or rather, instead of 6 years, he traveled through France and Italy, getting acquainted with the best works of art of these countries for only three years. A rare exception - usually artists used this right to the fullest.
But for Repin, creativity was more important. By the way, he painted barge haulers in 1872, the painting is called "Barge Haulers Wading", it is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery.
Ilya Repin. Barge haulers wading. 1872
There was another painting by Repin on this subject - "Barge Haulers Walking Through a Windfall", but the artist destroyed it after criticism from Shishkin, who really did not like the insufficiently realistic trees on the shore. But there were a huge number of sketches and drafts for the main painting, many of them have survived and represent completely finished works painted by a real master.
Sketch for the painting Barge Haulers on the Volga
In fact, even Repin's sketches for Barge Haulers on the Volga are probably worth a lot of money now, and the cost of the painting itself is not even discussed, I want to believe that no one will ever sell it, since it is a national treasure.
Repin is considered a defender of the weak and oppressed - this is the conclusion that the public and art critics made from his work. They were especially encouraged by the steamship depicted in the background - that's who should be hauling heavy barges, not people. And the barge haulers themselves look like ragamuffins, unable to buy normal clothes - in fact, this was not so, the barge haulers' work was well paid and people were consciously ready for it. Although among the barge haulers there were drunkards, vagabonds, just people who walked around, who then drank away all their earnings in taverns for a week, and then again put on a strap and walked along the towline, singing one endless song, like Rus'.
The picture was completed by an idealistic landscape, bright sun and cloudless sky - live and be happy, but you have to pull the hated barge with all your might.
Although the artist himself honestly said that when he talked to the barge haulers, he did not listen to their complaints about the hard life. Repin was interested in their types, faces and poses, and not in their harsh fate.
But in the Soviet Union, they tried not to think about the artist's true motives. The picture perfectly illustrated the oppression of the common people by the bourgeoisie, and therefore was in great demand, and Repin himself was invited several times to move to the Soviet Union from emigration.
Barge haulers on the Volga. fragment.
Each barge hauler in the painting has his own real prototype. In the foreground is barge hauler Kanin, a 45-year-old man with an intelligent and strong-willed face. He is the leader of the team, has been a barge hauler for 10 years, and knows the coastline inside out. Repin wrote that Kanin resembles an ancient Greek philosopher who was captured and enslaved - there is no way a man with such abilities should be doing such work.
To the right of Kanin is sailor Ilka. A gloomy man, a drunkard, but well acquainted with such work and a conscientious worker. Although in ordinary life it is better not to deal with such a person. To the left is a healthy fellow, who is not yet 40 years old, the strongest in the gang. In winter, he earns money from fist fights, being a professional fighter, and in the off-season, when there are no large fairs, he drags himself along with the barge haulers. They put him in front, although he has little experience of such work, but he has more than enough strength.
The lanky man with the pipe is probably one of the peasants - he is dressed better than everyone else, and he does not work hard, he leans on the strap half-heartedly. For him, being a barge hauler is only a temporary income.
The worst is for a man of about 60 years old, behind the peasant with the pipe. He seems to be sick with consumption, and hard work contributes to the progression of the disease. But there is nothing to do - he needs to live on something. Although this is probably his last season on the Volga, then either death or begging on the porch.
Barge haulers on the Volga. fragment.
The village boy Larka stands out in particular. He is the only one with a slightly different pose from the other barge haulers - the boy is adjusting the strap, which he can't get used to. Why did he end up there? Perhaps he had a fatal falling out with his father, left home and joined the barge haulers, or maybe the orphaned family sent their only breadwinner to earn money.
But behind Larka is the most experienced in the gang. An old man of 65-70 years old, but strong, unlike a consumptive. Work for him is a routine duty, all the subtleties of which he knows, it is no coincidence that he manages to roll a cigarette on the go, even got a tobacco pouch. He was put behind the boy to keep an eye on him.
You can hardly see the faces of the barge haulers from behind, but he is most likely a Kalmyk.
Barge haulers on the Volga. fragment.
The soldier Zotov is pulling the strap behind the old man. The man probably finished his service, was unable to properly adapt to civilian life, got carried away with alcohol, and ended up in the barge haulers' captivity.
Behind the soldier is the only person whose face is depicted in profile, and judging by his distinctive nose and clothes, one can assume that he is from the south, most likely a Greek.
And finally, the last barge hauler, with his head down low, his face is not visible, but it seems that he is trudging along with the last of his strength. But this is probably not so - the last barge haulers were the weak, but experienced ones, and their task was to ensure that the towline did not catch on the stones. That is why the pose is so dejected, although the consumptive barge hauler has it the worst.
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