Russian Realism Paintings by Ilya Repin

August 31st, 2016

Awake Goy

Ilya Repin (1844 – 1930) was a Russian realist painter who rejected the colorful and free impressionism that was becoming popular in the art world and instead focused on the life of the Russian peasant, whilst still doing portraits of the Russian elite. He was living in Finland at the time of the October Revolution, and declined an offer to return to Russia, remaining in independent Finland until his death. Nevertheless, his paintings were held up as an ideal of realism in the Soviet Union.

Note the felled trees in the background of Religious Procession. Repin wrote, “… the exploiters .of the region… cut down my favorite forests, where I have so many childhood memories.”