Russian Art
Repin, I. E.
"Barge-Haulers on the Volga". 1870 - 1873
Notes: Barge-Haulers on the Volga
"Barge-Haulers on the Volga" was the first painting completed by Repin after leaving the Academy of Fine Arts. Like many members of the advanced Russian intelligentsia of the day, Repin valued physical labor and fatigue, the lot of the common man, as noble subjects. His sensitive treatment of those themes in the "Barge-Haulers," which depicts the men who pulled the heavy boats against the strong currents of the Volga, captured the attention of both the great novelist, Dostoyevsky, and the critic, Stasov.
The eleven figures in the group have been called metaphors for Russia itself (Sarabianov, Russian Art, 1990, p.138). The lead "hauler" was modeled after a man named Kanin, a defrocked priest whom Repin came to know during his stay on the Volga. Kanin represents wisdom. Other figures represent different ages, nationalities and social sectors.
