The painting "Barge Haulers on the Volga", which glorified Ilya Repin, has received mixed reviews since its inception. Someone admired the artist's skill, someone accused him of deviating from the truth of life. I remember at school we discussed it and wrote essays on it.
Why did the famous painting provoke a scandal at the state level, and how much did Repin actually sin against reality?
Artel burlakov
These images of unfortunate ragamuffins, earning a living by back-breaking labor, are familiar to everyone from school textbooks. Barge haulers in the 16th-19th centuries were hired workers who, with the help of string, pulled river boats against the current. Barge haulers united in artels of 10-45 people, there were also women's artels. Despite the hard work, during the season (in spring or autumn) the barge haulers could earn so much so that later they could live comfortably for six months. Because of the need and poor harvests, peasants sometimes went to the barge haulers, but mostly vagrants and homeless people were engaged in such work.
There were also women's artels
I. Shubin claims that in the XIX century. the work of the barge haulers looked like this: a large drum with a cable wound around it was installed on the barges. People got into the boat, took with them the end of the cable with three anchors and sailed upstream. There they threw anchors into the water one by one. The barge haulers on the barge pulled a cable from bow to stern, winding it around a drum. Thus, they "pulled" the barge upstream: they walked back, and the deck under their feet moved forward. Having reeled up the cable, they again went to the bow of the ship and did the same. They had to pull along the coast only when the ship ran aground. That is, the episode depicted by Repin is an isolated case.
Promotional video:
The vessel could be pulled upstream with cables
The same exception to the rule can be called the section of the road shown in the picture. Bechevnik - the coastal strip along which the barge haulers moved, by the order of Emperor Paul, it was not built up with buildings and fences, but there were plenty of bushes, stones and swamps there. The deserted and flat coast depicted by Repin is an ideal section of the path, which in fact were few.
The work of the barge haulers was unbearably hard
The painting "Barge Haulers on the Volga" was painted in 1870-1873, when steamers replaced the sailing boats, and the need for burlak labor disappeared. Back in the middle of the XIX century. the labor of barge haulers began to be replaced by machine traction. That is, at that time, the theme of the picture could no longer be called relevant. Therefore, a scandal erupted when Repin's Burlakov in 1873 was sent to the World Exhibition in Vienna. The Russian Minister of Railways was indignant: “Well, how difficult it was that pulled you to paint this ridiculous picture? But I have already reduced this antediluvian method of transport to zero and soon there will be no mention of it! " However, Repin was patronized by the Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich himself, who not only spoke approvingly of the artist's work, but even acquired it for his personal collection.
Artel burlakov
"Burlakov" Repin wrote at the age of 29, finishing his studies at the Academy of Arts. At the end of the 1860s. he went on sketches to Ust-Izhora, where he was amazed by the artel of barge haulers he saw on the shore. To learn more about the characters of interest to him, Repin settled for the summer in the Samara region. His research cannot be called serious, as he himself admitted: “I must admit frankly that I was not in the least interested in the question of everyday life and the social structure of agreements between barge haulers and owners; I asked them only to give some seriousness to my business. To tell the truth, I even absentmindedly listened to some story or detail about their relationship to the owners and these bloodsucking boys."
I. Repin. Barge Haulers on the Volga. Fragment: in front there was * a bump *, next to him - * lumpy *
Nevertheless, Barge Haulers on the Volga reproduce the hierarchy of hired workers quite accurately.
1. Shoreline
Trampled coastal strip along which barge haulers walked. Emperor Paul forbade the construction of fences and buildings here, but he limited himself to this. Neither bushes, nor stones, nor swampy places were removed from the path of the barge haulers, so the place written by Repin can be considered an ideal section of the road.
2. Bump - foreman of barge haulers
They became a clever, strong and experienced person who knew many songs. In the artel, which Repin captured, the bump was pop-defrocked Kanin (sketches have been preserved, where the artist indicated the names of some characters). The brigadier rode, that is, he fastened his strap, ahead of everyone and set the rhythm of the movement. The barge haulers did each step synchronously with the right foot, then pulling up the left. From this, the entire artel swayed on the move. If someone lost a step, people collided with their shoulders, and the bump gave the command "hay - straw", resuming movement in the leg. Keeping the rhythm on the narrow paths above the cliffs required great skill from the foreman.
3. Lumpy - the closest helpers of the lump
On the left hand of Kanin is Ilka the sailor - the gang leader, who bought provisions and gave out their salaries to the barge haulers. At the time of Repin, it was small - 30 kopecks a day. So much, for example, it cost to cross the whole of Moscow in a cab, driving from Znamenka to Lefortovo. Behind the backs of the lumpy were those in need of special control.
4. "Bonded"
"Bonded", like this man with a pipe, even at the beginning of the journey, managed to squander the salary for the entire flight. Being indebted to the artel, they worked for grub and did not really try.
5. Cookery Larka
The youngest of the barge haulers, the village boy Larka, who experienced real hazing, was the cook and the falcon headman (that is, responsible for the cleanliness of the latrine on the ship). Considering his duties more than sufficient, Larka sometimes scandalized and pointedly refused to pull the strap.
6. "Skunkers"
In every artel there were also just careless ones, like this man with a pouch. On occasion, they were not averse to shifting some of the burden onto the shoulders of others.
7. "Overseer"
Behind were the most conscientious barge haulers, urging the hackers.
8. Oblique or oblique
Sluggish or inert - that was the name of the barge haule, who closed the movement. He made sure that the cord did not cling to stones and bushes on the shore. The inert one usually looked at his feet and roamed himself apart so that he could walk in his own rhythm. Experienced, but sick or weak were chosen for inertia.
9-10. Bark and flag
View of the barge. These were used to carry Elton salt, Caspian fish and seal fat, Ural iron and Persian goods (cotton, silk, rice, dried fruits) up the Volga. The artel was recruited by the weight of a laden vessel at the rate of about 250 poods per person. The cargo, which is being pulled up the river by 11 barge haulers, weighs at least 40 tons.
The order of the stripes on the flag was not treated very carefully, and was often raised upside down, as here.
11 and 13. Pilot and water-carrier
The pilot is the man at the helm, in fact the captain of the ship. He earns more than the entire artel put together, gives instructions to the barge haulers and maneuvers both the steering wheel and the blocks that regulate the length of the cord. Now the bark is making a turn, avoiding the shallow.
Vodoliv is a carpenter who caulks and repairs the ship, monitors the safety of the goods, bears material responsibility for it during loading and unloading. According to the agreement, he does not have the right to leave the embroidery during the voyage and replaces the owner, leading on his behalf.
12 and 14. Becheva and sail
Becheva is the rope to which the barge haulers tend to. While the barge was being driven along the steep slope, that is, at the very shore, the line was etched by about 30 meters. But the pilot loosened it, the bark moved away from the shore. In a minute, the rope will stretch like a string and the barge haulers will first have to restrain the inertia of the vessel, and then pull with all their might.
At this point, the bump will tighten the song:
So let's go and lead,
Left and right we took over.
Oh again, one more time
One more time, one more time …"
and so on, until the artel enters into a rhythm and moves forward.
15. Bark thread
Since the 16th century, it was customary to decorate the Volga barks with intricate carvings. It was believed that she helped the ship to rise against the current. The best specialists in clumsy work in the country were engaged in barking. When in the 1870s steamers pushed wooden barges from the river, the craftsmen scattered in search of earnings, and a thirty-year era of magnificent carved platbands began in the wooden architecture of Central Russia. Later, highly skilled carving gave way to more primitive stencil cutting.
I. Repin. Barge Haulers on the Volga. Fragment: on the left - * bonded *, on the right - cook Larka
Despite the existence of real prototypes, in academic circles "Burlakov" was nicknamed "the greatest profanation of art", "the sober truth of miserable reality." Journalists wrote that Repin embodied "skinny ideas, transferred to the canvas from newspaper articles … from which the realists get their inspiration." At the exhibition in Vienna, too, many greeted the picture with bewilderment. Fyodor Dostoevsky was one of the first to appreciate the painting, whose admiring reviews were later picked up by art connoisseurs.
When Dostoevsky saw this painting by Ilya Repin, he was very glad that the artist did not put any social protest into it.
In the "Diary of a Writer" Fyodor Mikhailovich remarked:
“… barge haulers, real barge haulers and nothing more. None of them shouts from the picture to the viewer: “Look how unhappy I am and to what extent you owe the people!” And this one can be considered the greatest merit of the artist. Glorious, familiar figures: two leading barge haulers almost laugh, at least, do not cry at all and do not at all think about their social position. The soldier is cunning and false, wants to fill his pipe. The boy is serious, screams, even quarrels - an amazing figure, almost the best in the picture and is equal in design to the rear haulers, dejected by the peasant, trailing separately, whose face is not even visible …
After all, one cannot but love them, these defenseless, one cannot leave without loving them. It is impossible not to think that he should, really owe the people … After all, this burlak "party" will dream later, in fifteen years will be remembered! But if they were not so natural, innocent and simple - they would not have produced such an impression and would not have made such a picture " …
Dostoevsky could not even imagine how many platitudes will still be said about this picture and what an invaluable document it will now be for those who want to understand the organization of labor of barge haulers.
By the way, did you know that today Repin is called one of the most mysterious figures in the history of painting?
His work was accompanied by all one strange circumstance - many who were lucky enough to become his sitters soon went to another world. And although in each of the cases there were some objective reasons for death, coincidences are alarming …
"Fear the painter's brush - his portrait may turn out to be more alive than the original," wrote Cornelius Agrippa of Nettesheim in the 15th century. The work of the great Russian artist Ilya Repin was a confirmation of this. Pirogov, Pisemsky, Mussorgsky, French pianist Mercy d'Argento and other sitters became the artist's "victims". Only the master began to paint a portrait of Fyodor Tyutchev, the poet died. Even healthy men who posed for Repin's painting "Barge Haulers on the Volga", according to rumors, prematurely gave their souls to God.
Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan on November 16, 1581
I. E. Repin. "Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan on November 16, 1581" (1885)
Today this painting is known as "Ivan the Terrible kills his son." It was with this picture of Repin that a terrible story happened. When it was exhibited at the Tretyakov Gallery, the canvas made a strange impression on visitors: some fell into a stupor in front of the painting, others cried, and others had hysterical fits. Even the most balanced people in front of the picture felt uneasy: there was too much blood on the canvas, it looked very realistic.
On January 16, 1913, the young icon painter Abram Balashov cut the picture with a knife, for which he was sent to the "yellow" house, where he died. The picture was restored. But the tragedies did not end there. The artist Myasoedov, who posed for Repin for the image of the tsar, almost killed his son in a fit of anger, and the writer Vsevolod Garshin, a model for Tsarevich Ivan, went mad and committed suicide.
Solemn meeting of the State Council
I. E. Repin. "Solemn meeting of the State Council" (1903)
In 1903, Ilya Repin completed the monumental painting "The ceremonial meeting of the State Council." And in 1905, the First Russian Revolution took place, during which many state officials, captured in the picture, laid down their heads. Thus, the former governor-general of Moscow, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and Minister V. K. Pleve, were killed by terrorists.
Portrait of Prime Minister Stolypin
I. E. Repin. "Portrait of Prime Minister Stolypin"
The writer Korney Chukovsky recalled: “When Repin was painting my portrait, I jokingly told him that if I were a little more superstitious, I would never have dared to pose for him, because in his portraits there is an ominous power: almost everyone he will write, in the next few days dies. I wrote to Mussorgsky - Mussorgsky died immediately. Wrote Pisemsky - Pisemsky died. And Pirogov? And Mercy d'Argento? And as soon as he wanted to paint a portrait of Tyutchev for Tretyakov, Tyutchev fell ill the same month and died soon after.
The humorist O. L. d'Or, who was present at the conversation, said in an imploring voice:
- In that case, Ilya Efimovich, please write to Stolypin!
Everyone laughed. Stolypin was prime minister at the time, and we hated him. Several months passed. Repin told me:
- And your Ohr turned out to be a prophet. I'm going to write Stolypin by order of the Saratov Duma."
Repin did not immediately agree to the proposal to paint a portrait of the Prime Minister, he was looking for a variety of excuses to refuse. But the Saratov Duma fulfilled all the requirements of the artist, and it was already simply inconvenient to refuse.
The artist decided to portray Stolypin not as a courtier in a uniform with orders and all regalia, but in a regular suit. The portrait is evidence that Repin was interested in a person, and not a state person. Only a dark red background gives the portrait an official and solemnity.
After the first session, Repin told his friends: “It's strange: the curtains in his office are red, like blood, like fire. I write it against this bloody fiery background. And he does not understand that this is the background of the revolution …”As soon as Repin finished the portrait, Stolypin went to Kiev, where he was killed. “Thanks to Ilya Efimovich!” The Satyricons joked.
In 1918, the portrait entered the Radishchevsky Museum of Saratov and has been there ever since.
Portrait of Mussorgsky
I. E. Repin. Portrait of Mussorgsky
The portrait of the great composer Modest Mussorgsky was painted by Repin in just four days - from 2 to 4 March 1881. The composer died on March 6, 1881. True, here it is hardly appropriate to speak of mysticism. The artist arrived at the Nikolaev military hospital immediately after he learned about a friend's fatal illness in the winter of 1881. He immediately rushed to him to paint a lifetime portrait. Here admirers of mysticism clearly confuse cause and effect.
These are mystical and not very stories associated with the paintings of Ilya Repin.
Well, then let's find out what kind of famous folk "Painting by Repin - We sailed!"
The expression “Repin's painting“Swam”has become a real idiom that characterizes a stalemate. The painting, which has become part of folklore, really exists. But Ilya Repin has nothing to do with her.
The picture, which popular rumor attributes to Repin, was created by the artist Soloviev Lev Grigorievich (1839-1919). The painting is called “Monks. We did not go there. The painting was painted in the 1870s, and until 1938 it entered the Sumy Art Museum.
“Monks. We did not go there. L. Soloviev
In the 1930s, the painting hung at the museum exhibition next to the paintings of Ilya Repin, and visitors decided that this painting also belonged to the great master. And then they also assigned a kind of "popular" name - "Swam".
The plot of Solovyov's painting is based on the bathing scene. Someone else is undressing on the shore, someone is already in the water. Several women in the picture, beautiful in their nakedness, enter the water. The central figures of the picture are monks, taken aback by an unexpected meeting, whose boat was brought to the bathers by an insidious current.
The young monk froze with oars in his hands, not knowing how to react. The elderly shepherd smiles - "Say, they sailed!" The artist in an amazing way managed to convey emotions and amazement on the faces of a participant in this meeting.
Lev Solovyov, an artist from Voronezh, is little known to a wide circle of art fans. According to information received about him, he was a modest, hardworking, philosophical person. He loved to paint everyday scenes from the life of ordinary people and landscapes.
Until now, only a few works of this artist have survived: several sketches in the Russian Museum, two paintings in the gallery in Ostrogozhsk and the genre painting "Shoemakers" in the Tretyakov Gallery.
