Repin Paints Mussorgsky

In early March, 1881, Ilya Repin painted a portrait of his friend, the composer Modest Mussorgsky. 

Mussorgsky was 42 years old. He had already written his immortal compositions, such as Night on Bald Mountain and Pictures at an Exhibition. But now his creative work was over.

He had been drinking heavily and was subject to fits of madness. Hanging out all day in a tavern with other composers and writers, he eventually he lost his government job. He told his friends "there was nothing left but begging."

He found a comfortable room in a military hospital. Despite several seizures, he seemed to be rallying.


That was where Repin found him. The portrait took four sessions. There was a soft light from the tall hospital windows, but the room was cramped, and the artist was forced to balance the painting on a small table. Repin captured his tousled hair, his red nose, and his bleary eyes. But even in the deep decline, the eyes are full of fire.

There was one more sitting scheduled two weeks later. When Repin came to the hospital one last time at the appointed hour, Mussorgsky was not among the living. Despite strict orders, an attendant had obtained for him a bottle of forbidden cognac.

The patron Tretyakov bought the painting sight unseen. Repin didn't want the the money, and donated it to help pay for a memorial to his friend.

The portrait is a masterwork of simplicity, vigor, compassion, and honesty. Repin's fellow portrait painter Kramskoy pulled up a chair and stared at the painting for hours, awestruck with its power. He described it as a combination of Rembrandt and Velazquez.

Modest Mussorgsky on Wikipedia
Ilya Repin on Wikipedia
Night on Bald Mountain (with Disney Animation) on YouTube
Book: The Russian Vision: The Art of Ilya Repin

Repin portraits vs. color photos of the same model

Color photograph of Andreyev

Leonid Andreyev was a Russian writer who experimented with early color photography, taking selfies between 1910 and 1914. 

These are true color photos using the Autochrome method, decades before Eastman Kodak's process.

Oil painting of Leonid Andreyev by Ilya Repin

Andreyev was also a friend of the great artist Ilya Repin, who painted several portraits of him. 

So we have the rare treat of being able to compare color photographs of one of Repin's models with some painted portraits. 

They're not in the same poses, not taken at the same time, and Repin didn't use these photos as reference.

But it's remarkable to see how Repin stayed true to the essential character of the sitter, clarified the structure of his face, and presented him in an interesting way.
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Book: Photographs by a Russian Writer Leonid Andreyev: An Undiscovered Portrait of Pre-Revolutionary Russia
Leonid Andreyev - his Autochromes, and two portraits by Repin
Previously: How Sargent Interpreted Carolus-Duran

Book Review: "Fundamentals of Composition"

Preliminary studies by Ilya Repin, from the book Fundamentals of Composition

It's difficult to learn about the teachings of the Russian Academy because not much information is available in English.

Sketches and finished paintings by Peter Paul
Rubens, Karl Bryullov, and Aleksander Deyneka

Fortunately, a few years ago, Vladimir Mogilevtsev, a professor at the Russian Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg, released two books: Fundamentals of Drawing and Fundamentals of Painting, which I've reviewed on the blog. 

Now the third book in his series, Fundamentals of Composition, is also available in English.

Rather than thinking of composition in purely aesthetic terms, he starts with an emphasis on the concept or story that drives the picture. 

In this respect, Mr. Mogilevtsev's approach is similar to Howard Pyle, who always focused on the concept that powered the picture and made sure the design supported that idea.

The book covers basic principles, such as variety, shape, silhouette, edges, unity, rhythm, color, and texture. But his coverage of these familiar ideas is fresh and original, and he provides lots of examples. 

He avoids laying down rules or laws, because one generation of artists breaks the rules of the previous generation. All of the basic principles are universal enough to have remained in place despite the changing styles through history.

Ilya Repin, Jesus Raising Jairus's Daughter

Most of the examples used in the book are from old masters, such as Michelangelo and Rembrandt, as well as 19th century Russians, such as Valentin Serov and Ilya Repin. 

Repin's painting of Jesus raising Jairus's daughter's is analyzed in terms of the hierarchy of details. 

Instead of trying to reveal a hidden grid of geometric relationships, this approach breaks up the picture into interest areas to show what's most important in it. The shapes are mapped out like a puzzle and numbered according to their importance.    

Alexander Ivanov, studies for The Appearance of
Christ Before the People, 1836-1857.

The second half of the book presents a wealth of examples of unpublished preliminary sketches and studies by Russian painters such as Surikov, Repin, Serov, and Ivanov (above). Alexander Ivanov produced hundreds of exquisite studies over a 20 year period in preparation for his painting of The Appearance of Christ Before the People.

As with the other books by publisher 4Art, the production is high quality. The book is hardcover, 9.25 x 13.5 inches, 88 pages, printed throughout in color on chrome-coat paper.

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Books in the Fundamentals of Art series:
Fundamentals of Composition (English Edition
Fundamentals of Drawing (English Edition)
Fundamentals of Painting (English Edition)

Related books:
Anatomy of Human Figure: The Guide for Artists (Tan cover, below left, Russian Language)

Academic Drawings and Sketches (Blue cover, below right, Russian Language)



Previous blog posts: 
• Russian Books on Academic Drawing and Painting
• Best How-To Art Books 
• Survival Guide for Art Students

Repin Paints Tolstoy at his Writing Table

Ilya Repin painted this portrait of Leo Tolstoy in the act of writing.

It's the unadorned space of a working farmer. There's a spade at the right, a wood-cutting saw and a scythe hanging on the back wall. The light streams in from the window. Instead of a fancy writing desk and chair, it's just a stool and a table. 

The message of the portrait is that Tolstoy (despite his aristocratic background) is really a hard-working writer who lived simply and close to the soil. 

Evidently, Repin did not find this composition readymade. He had to create it.

An earlier study, probably from life, lacks the door at the left and the window at the right. A big chest of drawers attracts a lot of attention on the far right.

This is the essence of composition. It's not just about where to place elements to make a pleasing arrangement. It's more about what to include and what to leave out; it's about how to attract the viewer's attention and thereby to engage their mind, in order to communicate the message you want to convey.
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Book: Ilya Repin
Previous Posts on Repin

Repin's Duelling Shapes

This painting by Ilya Repin illustrates a scene in Pushkin's novel Eugene Onegin when Onegin kills Lensky in a duel. The scene takes place beside a mill in winter, and the white snow gives Repin the opportunity to silhouette the figures. Their simple poses tell the story immediately.

Repin revisits the story in this oil painting of the terrible moments after Onegin kills Lensky. Here Repin uses strong silhouettes again, but in an even more interesting way. Onegin is isolated, grappling with the weight of the deed.

His simple vertical shape is echoed by the drumbeat rhythm of the trees behind him. Lensky's form lies prostrate on the ground, an uneven, wild shape. The seconds, Guillot and Zaretsky, also form ragged silhouettes, shapewelded to each other and to the darks of the mill behind them.


Keep an eye on next month's (Dec/Jan) issue of International Artist magazine, which will have an article that I wrote for them on silhouettes, based on material in Imaginative Realism.

Previously on GJ: Silhouette, Part 1 and Part 2.

Repin Exhibition in Paris

A retrospective of artwork of Ilya Repin (1844-1930) called "To paint the Russian soul" (Peindre l'âme russe) is currently on view in Paris.

"Le Petit Palais in Paris presents the first French retrospective dedicated to Ilya Repin, one of the greatest glories of Russian art. Little known in France, his work is nevertheless considered an essential milestone in the history of Russian painting of the 19th and 20th centuries. Around a hundred paintings, on loan from the National Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, the State Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg and the Art Museum of the Ateneum in Helsinki, some of which are very large, will allow us to retrace his journey. through his masterpieces."

The exhibition will be on view through the 23rd of January, 2022.

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Book in English: Ilya Repin

Vasnetsov’s Flight of Fantasy

We tend to associate 19th century Russian painting with earthy and uncompromising realism, so it’s a rare treat to see what one of the Russian painters came up with in the realm of fantasy.

This image by Victor Vasnetsov (1848-1926) is called “Flying Carpet” from 1880. It was commissioned for a railway station, and contains some of the era’s sense of optimism and adventure.

The colors are muted, both in the cloudy sky and the winter landscape below. A scrap of cloud, a slice of river, and a trio of owls hover at the edges of the composition.

The hero stands astride the carpet, his jacket flapping. What is his mission? And what is that enigmatic object in front of him? A lamp? The Ark of the Covenant? A steampunk jukebox?

This painting was criticized by Russian writers for undermining the new spirit of realism. The influential writer Chernyshevsky argued that “aesthetic beauty can only exist as an exact reflection of physical reality and not a manifestation of the imagination. Only in representations of physical reality…can the artist reveal true beauty.”

Eventually thinkers like Nikolai Chernyshevsky and Vladimir Stasov won over Repin, Vasnetsov’s good friend, who had painted a few fantastic scenes, like "Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom" (for which Vasnetsov was the model). Repin gradually moved away from imaginative subjects, but Vasnetsov, despite the critics, followed his vision of painting scenes from folklore and mythology.

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Wikipedia entry on Vasnetsov, link.
Link to GJ post showing Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom by Repin.
Thanks, Barry.

Repin's Portrait of Murashko

Ilya Repin (1844–1930) Portrait of Mykola Murashko ,1882, Oil on canvas, 48.5 x h58.5 cm

Mykola Ivanovych Murashko was a Ukrainian painter, devoted art teacher, art critic and art historian who belonged to the Russian movement of Peredvizhniki or Itinerants. He was also the founder and the first director of his own private drawing school in Kyiv which was supported by many well-known artists, notably Ilya Repin, a friend from the Academy.

Mykola Murashko (1844-1909) on Wikipedia

Painting as Magic

At age ten, Ilya Repin watched his cousin paint a watermelon. The budding artist regarded the process of creating an illusion out of raw pigments as utterly magical, and he “never lost fascination and wonderment for the process of painting, investing it with an autonomous, mystical, almost religious quality.”

This, according to David Jackson’s new biography of the 19th Century realist, entitled Ilya Repin: The Russian Vision.

Below: Repin's early work "Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom." (Click on it to enlarge.)

Tomorrow: Storage Tip for Watercolor Tubes

Russian Paintings in London

Several well known folklore paintings from Russia's classic age of imaginative realism are on show in London at the Mall Galleries.

Ilya Repin, Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom

Sadko is a hero from a medieval epic. Musician, gambler, and adventurer, he traveled to the sea floor where the "Sea Tsar" or king of the mermen provided him with his choice of a bride.

Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov, The Flying Carpet

According to a press release, these paintings were acquired by Art Russe from a noble family.

EDIT. The Sadko painting and perhaps some of the other ones in the London show may be copies, done either by Repin or another artist. The original of Sadko is on view right now in Holland (Link for more info). Thanks, Damian and Annelotte.

Victor Vasnetsov (1848–1926) Alionushka
1881, Oil on canvas, 167 × 107 cm

They're currently part of an exhibition on Russian folktale art at The Mall Galleries, London until January 6. It's free to get in, but check the website because it may only be open to the public tomorrow and the next day.

Not included in the exhibition are the following studies for Repin's Sadko painting.



He probably painted the color comp from his imagination, and then the head studies from models.

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Thanks, Damian Johnston

Arrest of a Propagandist

The preliminary studies that led up to Ilya Repin's dramatic painting "Arrest of a Propagandist" show how changes in design can alter the staging and psychology of the story.

This charcoal study shows a young Russian dissident captured by the police. His hands are tied behind his back as the authorities search the house for illegal literature. One suitcase of such contraband lies open, with stuff scattered at his feet. A man at left with a lowered head seems to face him with hard questions. Members of his family or his village stream down the stairs at right. A baby plays at his feet.


This small painted version develops that idea further. He takes away the bearded man's cane and makes him light against the dark background. A little girl clings to her mother's dress near the man. The light shapes and the bright red shirt attract attention to the right places. The composition seems like a "go," in fact Russia used this version as a stamp design.

But like a stage director, Repin keeps trying more variations. In this study, his head turns to stage right to face an official, who sits with his legs crossed in a chair and reads aloud some of the forbidden writing. This is much more dramatic and powerful psychologically. A few sympathetic figures stand at stage left, but we can't really see their emotions, and they become overly important to the picture.

In the final state of the painting, Repin raises the stakes even higher. He removes all the sympathetic figures from the main room and crowds them in the back hallway at right. This deletion makes the accused man seem more isolated, more Christ-like, and his fate seems more dire. The men at the window look conspiratorial and guarded, while a menacing figure, like Judas, sits alone at the rear. One of these men must have been the informer, and the accused seems to be shooting a look their way.

Two men, including a uniformed guard with a weapon, work together to restrain him. The suitcase appears in the immediate foreground, packed with material, with scraps of something torn up on the floor at left. The seated official is an older man with glasses.

Next to him is a young official, perhaps a lawyer, his fingers delicately balanced on the chair back. Above him is an upraised hand with another bundle of captured papers.

In a storytelling picture like this, the designer is a dramatist on a par with a film director. Compositional choices should be driven by mood and meaning, not just as an exercise in abstract shapes or formal niceties.

Repin in Old Age

"When [Ilya Repin] got old and his hand withering, he should have stopped on health grounds, and his family tried to stop him. They took his paints away, and when they came back from a walk one day and found that the artist dipped a cigarette in an ink well and painted on the wall. So, they gave him his paints back." --"David Jackson Talks About Ilya Repin"