Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
orates Stepan Razin, who led an uprising against the czar in 1670. In room 36, the gigantic
Yermak's Conquest of Siberia
(1895) is a reminder that Russia (like the US) has an uneasy
relationship with its native peoples. Here, Caucasian-featured soldiers armed with guns
cross a river by boat, meeting Siberian forces on the other shore who are armed with bow
and arrow.
• Peek into the room down the stairs from here (room 54), where Ilya Repin's large canvas
shows the aristocracy at work in a Russian State Council meeting from 1901. For more by
Repin, head back up the stairs and turn left, passing through room 35 to reach room 34.
Ilya Repin:
Repin came from a modest background and often explored the rural life of
common people—he could be called an early Socialist Realist. His painting met approval
during the Soviet period for its focus on the working class. Repin famously painted Leo
Tolstoy in peasants' clothing, standing barefoot in the woods (1901). Also in this room, in
Seeing Off a Recruit
(1879), a young man hugs his mother as his prepares to let the army
take him far away—showing the pathos of military service in a way that is still relevant
today.
• Turn into room 33.
With
Barge Haulers on the Volga
(1870-1873), Repin polished his local celebrity and
gained renown in the West. Eleven wretched workers (called
burlaks
)—bodies groaning
with the pain etched on each face—are yoked like livestock for the Sisyphean task of
pulling a ship against the current. The youngest
burlak
in the center, with inexplicable
optimism, strikes a classically heroic pose. A steamship on the horizon emphasizes how
cruelly outdated this form of labor is in the modern age. It's no wonder the Soviets em-
braced this painting as a perfect metaphor for the timeless struggle of the working class.
• Now backtrack to room 35 and turn right, down the stairs, to room 39.
VasilyVereshchagin:
Vereshchagin specialized in photorealistic paintings emphasizing
two subjects: military scenes and exotic views of Eastern cultures (which he explored in
