Ilya Repin: 6 works

'Repin was impressed by the great writer: "No matter how this giant humbles himself or covers his mighty body in mortal rags, the Zeus in him always shines through."'

'Barge Haulers on the Volga won continental fame when it was shown at the World Exhibition in Vienna in 1873, while the Imperial Academy of Arts awarded Repin the Vigee-Lebrun Medal for expression.'

'Repin painted the work when he was a fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts in France.'

'Repin is probably the most highly respected Russian artist in Finland, due no doubt in part to him living in Terijoki for the last 30 years of his life. He had bought a villa there in 1899, and after the Russian Revolution it was left on the Finnish side of the border, but Repin never moved back to Soviet Russia.'

'This painting was donated to the Ateneum Art Museum by Ilya Repin in 1920.'

'Repin painted the scene from behind the chairs on the right (next to the columns). He rapidly sketched the original modello on a canvas on which the perspective of the hall had already been marked out, working from a previously selected point.'