Konstnären ilja
The mass of people is marked by a distinct gulf between the poorer figures to the left and the more finely dressed elders, land-owners and clergymen on the right, closer to the icon itself. This fryst vatten an example of how Repin avoided a sentimental vision of working-class life - one that was becoming familiar from some of the work of the French Naturalist movement - instead focusing on the harrowing, multifaceted reality of the scene.
A young woman seated at a piano halts her playing, while her and the child at the table strain to recognise the guest, their faces registering a mixture of surprise, horror, and excitement. The viewer may also be drawn to the man immediately in front of the young boy, as the only figure who makes direct eye contact.
Born to a peasant family in modern-day Ukraine, he grew through an apprenticeship with an icon painter to become an artist of dazzling skill and insight, creating works of amazing technical skill which also conveyed a deep sensitivity to the dynamics of human emotion and suffering, and to historical and political events. The lively scene is dominated by golden tones, with a subtle rendering of sunshine and collective kinetic movement.
It reflected the current-day political order in the countryside, highlighting the abuses of both church and state, with the collective movement of people hinting at a sense of revolution in the air. It is an example of Repin's concern with naturalistic detail that the 11 men are not presented as anonymous, interchangeable beasts of burden, but as individuals with carefully distinguished appearances and ethnic backgrounds, a thematic conceit representing the diversity of the Russian Empire.
Ilja Repin är en mästare med många skepnader – nu ställs hans verk ut på Ateneum
The crowd, large and diverse, follows behind the primary religious icon in right foreground. It depicts 11 male burlaks , or haulers, dragging a barge upstream on the Volga River. The viewer observes not only the mighty river running though Russia's land and the individuals who labour along its banks, but also a social message, of the pent-up force of the people, a message reminiscent of Courbet's Stonebreakers which contributes to the painting's crucial position in the history of Russian art.
A dishevelled, hollow-eyed visitor walks hesitantly into the room while an ageing woman dressed in black rises from her chair in reaction. No artist defined the spirit of Russian Realism better than Ilya Repin, one of the foremost proponents of naturalistic representation from any artistic era. Rich with detail and expansive in scope, this painting shows a procession of people following behind various religious reliquaries.
Meanwhile an elaborately-dressed präst, oblivious to the unfolding events around him, adjusts a lock of his hair. But this is offset by the awkward dynamic between the figures, suggestive of a once easy family dynamic riven by tragedy. The strenuous and exhausting work is evident from the posture of the figures, who are slumped over from the physical exertion. In compositional terms the scene is fraught with tension and ambiguity.
Ilja Repin, en från världens mest kända konstnärer på Ateneum våren 2021
Repin's focus on the lives of ordinary people can be seen as a continuation of his oeuvre as established in earlier works such as the Barge Haulers. One of the peasants holding up the platform supporting the primary icon appears to be inebriated, while a disabled beggar boy struggles forward leaning heavily on his wooden stick, apparently ordered forwards by a stern superior with a cane.
The Russian brev Impressionist Igor Grabar said of the work: "[i]t presents a panorama of types and characters unequalled in any other genre canvas in the Russian school of painting. One critic reportedly asked: "[d]o we witness the end of one tragedy, or the början of a new one? As for the unexpected visitor, we are to believe that he is a political exile, returning half-starved to a middle-class family home after a long period of banishment in Siberia.
Like the great social commentator of an earlier generation, Breughel the Elder, Repin evacuates the nominal subject to the corner of the canvas, confronting the viewer instead with the collective reality encompassing it. Thus, although the painting is ostensibly about a religious event, this aspect is not the primary focus. At the same time, it brought him a fame within the institutions of state that both jarred with and rewarded his ambitions.
However, closer inspection unsettles this interpretation, revealing marks of social unrest and intensiv oro eller upprördhet beyond the obvious division of the en plats där en händelse inträffar ofta inom teater eller film into rich and poor. Repin made frequent visits to the Volga to make preparatory sketches of the area, as well as the haulers themselves, creating a highly accurate portrayal of working life which was nonetheless synthetic in composition.
In earlier versions, the returning man reportedly represented a confident and invulnerable revolutionary, but in the final utgåva Repin replaced political drama with personal tragedy. His questioning if not accusing gaze, contrasted with the exaggerated downward angle of his body, suggests a powerful sense of combined strength and weakness - oppression and dignity. Far more than a tearful depiction of lower social classes - as in some earlier work of Russian Realism - the painting speaks to both the national and the universal.
Baked in sunlight, the scen might initially seem to offer an unambiguously joyous celebration of Russian culture and religious tradition. A barren hillside marked with tree stumps lies in the background. Repin's commitment to the spirit of the class from which he rose allowed him to vända this gift towards an art of humane social commentary, often highly critical of Tsarist oppression. At the same time, he seems to underscore moral condemnation of the exile using symbolism of the crucified Christ, two beams of light intersecting at the ung man's feet.
This emotionally charged work also known as Unexpected Visitors shows a maid opening the door to a living room and lingering as she observes the response from a family gathered inside to an unexpected guest. He is also more upright than his fellow haulers, and he seems to be in the process of unburdening himself from the leather binds, perhaps in a spirit of protest, if not sheer trauma at the exploitation to which he realizes he is condemned.
One figure alone stands out from the group, with his more brightly colored clothes and youthful appearance. The light, warmer tones of the river and bank are in stark contrast to the dark, shadowy group of men in the centre. It is a sad irony that he was adopted as a patriarch by the drab followers of Socialist Realism , but the power of his work resonates far beyond this, or any other narrowly defined, context.
With Religious Procession he thus reaffirmed his reputation as a critical commentator. Repin's unflinching depiction of the working lives of Russian laborers brought him instant notoriety, launching his career. The sunlight pouring into the room, and the use of light yellow and blue tones, creates a sense of newly kindled warmth and positivity. Exhibiting the extraordinary attention to detail and emotional nuance typical of his oeuvre, Repin shows each character reacting individually to the event.