russian empire tsaristconcept:era modern

Barge Haulers on the Volga

Name: Provenio Provenance Knowledge Graph
License: https://provenio.art/terms

Oil on canvas (1870–1873) by Ilya Repin. Eleven barge-haulers (burlaki) strain against towlines pulling a steam barge up the Volga. A monumental, unflinching image of Russian labour and social degradation. Held at the State Russian Museum, St Petersburg.

Scholarly Significance

Anchor Russian social realism with Repin's Barge Haulers, the iconic image of Russian labour and social suffering.

Notes

·Repin began sketching on the Neva river in 1868 after seeing burlaki there; made research trips to the Volga in 1870 and 1872.
·The eleven figures are individuated portraits of actual burlaki he encountered; each has a distinct physiognomy and social history.
·The young man in the centre (Kanin, a former priest) became the painting's emotional focus.
·First exhibited at the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, St Petersburg, 1873.
·Purchased by Grand Duke Vladimir; transferred to the Russian Museum upon its founding in 1897.
·The painting became an emblem of the Peredvizhniki's social-realist mission.