Ilya Repin, Barge Haulers on the Volga, (1870–73)

Born Ilya Yefimovich Repin

5 August [O.S. 24 July] 1844

Chuguyev, Russian Empire

(now Ukraine)

Died 29 September 1930 (aged 86)

Kuokkala, Viipuri Province, Finland

(now Russia)

Nationality Russian Empire

Education Imperial Academy of Arts

Known for Painting

Notable work Barge Haulers on the Volga (1870–1873)

Religious Procession in Kursk Province (1880–1883)

Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks (1880–1891)

Movement Realism

Awards Gold medal (1869 and 1872)

Legion of Honour (1901)

Patron(s) Pavel Tretyakov

Barge Haulers on the Volga or Burlaki (Russian: Burlaki na Volge, Бурлаки на Волге) is an 1870–1873 oil-on-canvas painting by the Russian realist painter and sculptor Ilya Repin. The work depicts 11 labouring men dragging a barge on the Volga River. The men seem to almost collapse forward in exhaustion under the burden of hauling a large boat upstream in heavy, hot weather.[1][2]

The work is both a celebration of the men's dignity and fortitude, and a highly emotional condemnation of those who sanctioned such inhumane labour.[3] Although they are presented as stoical and accepting, the men are largely defeated; only one stands out: in the centre of both the row and canvas, a brightly coloured youth fights against his leather binds and takes on a heroic poise.

Repin conceived the painting during his travels through Russia as a young man and depicts actual characters he encountered. It drew international praise for its realistic portrayal of the hardships of working men, and launched his career.[4] Soon after its completion, the painting was purchased by Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich and exhibited widely throughout Europe as a landmark of Russian realist painting. Barge Haulers on the Volga has been described as "perhaps the most famous painting of the Peredvizhniki movement [for]....its unflinching portrayal of backbreaking labour".[5]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barge_Haulers_on_the_Volga