Il'ya Repin (1844 - 1930). Ilya Yefimovich Repin was a Russian realist painter. He was the most renowned Russian artist of the 19th century, when his position in the world of art was comparable to that of Leo Tolstoy in literature. He played a major role in bringing Russian art into the mainstream of European culture. His major works include Barge Haulers on the Volga, Religious Procession in Kursk Province and Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks. Repin was born in Chuguyev, in Kharkov Governorate, Russian Empire into a family of military settlers. His father traded horses and his grandmother ran an inn. He entered military school to study surveying. Soon after the surveying course was cancelled, his father helped Repin to become an apprentice with Ivan Bunakov, a local icon painter, where he restored old icons and painted portraits of local notables through commissions. In 1863 he went to St. Petersburg Art Academy to study painting but had to enter Ivan Kramskoi preparatory school first. He met fellow artist Ivan Kramskoi and the critic Vladimir Stasov during the 1860s, and his wife, Vera Shevtsova in 1872. In 1874-1876 he showed at the Salon in Paris and at the exhibitions of the Itinerants' Society in Saint Petersburg. He was awarded the title of academician in 1876. In 1880 Repin travelled to Zaporizhia to gather material for the 1891 Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks. His Religious Procession in Kursk Province was exhibited in 1883, and Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan in 1885. In 1892 he published the Letters on Art collection of essays. He taught at the Higher Art School attached to the Academy of Arts from 1894. In 1898 he purchased an estate, Penaty, in Kuokkala, Finland. In 1901 he was awarded the Legion of Honour. In 1911 he traveled with his common-law wife Natalia Nordman to the World Exhibition in Italy, where his painting 17 October 1905 and his portraits were displayed in their own separate room. In 1916 Repin worked on his book of reminiscences, Far and Near, with the assistance of Korney Chukovsky. He welcomed the February Revolution of 1917, but was rather skeptical towards the October Revolution. Soviet authorities asked him a number of times to come back, he remained in Finland for the rest of his life. Celebrations were held in 1924 in Kuokkala to mark Repin's 80th birthday, followed by an exhibition of his works in Moscow. In 1925 a jubilee exhibition of his works was held in the Russian Museum in Leningrad. Repin died in 1930 and was buried at the Penates. Repin was born in the town of Chuguyev, in the Kharkov Governorate of the Russian Empire, in the heart of the historical region of the Sloboda Ukraine. His father Yefim Vasilyevich Repin was a private in the Uhlan Regiment of the Imperial Russian Army. As a boy Ilya was educated at the local school where his mother taught. From 1854 he attended a military Cantonist school. He did not have fond recollections of his childhood, mainly due to the military settlements his family lived in. In 1856 he became a student of Ivan Bunakov, a local icon painter. In 1859-1863 he painted icons and wall-paintings by commission for the Society for the Encouragement of Artists. In 1864 he began attending the Imperial Academy of Arts, and met the painter Ivan Kramskoi. In 1869 he was awarded a small gold medal for his painting Job and His Friends. He also met the critic Vladimir Stasov and painted a portrait of Vera Shevtsova, his future wife. Repin traveled to the Volga River in 1870 to sketch landscapes and studies of barge haulers. The following year he was awarded a large gold medal for his painting The Raising of Jairus' Daughter. He married Vera Shevtsova in 1872 and met Pavel Tretyakov, who purchased some of Repin's first works. Repin's first daughter, Vera, was born the same year. During this time, he worked on the painting Barge Haulers on the Volga, commissioned by Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. The painting was completed in 1873. In an 1872 letter to Stasov, Repin wrote: Now it is the peasant who is the judge and so it is necessary to represent his interests. In 1873 Repin traveled to Italy and France with his family. His second daughter, Nadezhda, was born in 1874. In 1874-1876 he contributed to the Salon in Paris and to the exhibitions of the Itinerants' Society in Saint Petersburg. While in France he became familiar with the impressionists and the debate over a new direction in art. Though he admired some impressionist techniques, especially their depictions of light and color, he felt their work lacked moral or social purpose, key factors in his own art. Repin earned the title of academician in 1876 for his painting Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom.