Ilya Repin. We didn't wait. Description of the picture. Masterpieces of Russian painting. The new face of the opposition Ilya Efimovich Repin did not wait for the description of the picture
Ilya Repin. We didn't wait.
1884-1888. Canvas, oil. 160.5 x 167.5. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.
A former convict carefully steps along the wide, unpainted floorboards of his house—once his own, but now as if it were someone else’s. Repin wrote this timid, narrow step of his, his stiffness. After all, the one who was not even “expected” is afraid of frightening his relatives - mother, wife, son - with prison clothes.
The baby probably saw his father being taken away... But the daughter, perhaps, was just a baby or had not even been born on that terrible day. The daughter looks at the convict as if at a stranger. And with what compassion the maid, who has apparently become a member of this family for a long time, observes this scene.
Repin's relatives served as his models. He wrote “They Didn’t Expect” at the dacha in Martyshkino near St. Petersburg, where the elder Shevtsovs, Ilya Efimovich and Vera Alekseevna and their children lived together. The girl in the picture is Verunya Repina, the young convict’s wife is the artist’s wife, and the hero’s mother is based on her beloved mother-in-law. The maid in the film was “played” by Repin’s maid Nadyusha, Nadezhda Alekseevna, a diligent listener to everything that was read aloud in a good, friendly family.
So, we have seven characters. Political convict; his mother, rising from her chair to meet him, but suddenly feeling that her strength had left her; a wife sitting at the piano when suddenly her husband, her lost lover, entered; two children - a boy who remembers his father, judging by his facial expression, and a girl who does not know her father; at the door is the maid, and behind her is the cook, surprised at the event.
Seven characters. A whole play in three acts. The first is in a distant subtext, the convict’s memory of saying goodbye to this house; secondly, the life of this house is in constant anticipation and tension, it subsides only at this unexpected hour, this very minute “they weren’t waiting”, but long years everyone listened and listened to the footsteps on the stairs; the third act is before us.
Look at the convict. Repin worked a lot on this image. Tretyakov bought the painting, but Repin chose a time when Pavel Mikhailovich was not at home and rewrote the hero’s head. He made him older than he should be based on the ages of his mother, wife and children. The artist knew what people were like when they came out of hard labor. He knew a lot about people, about human grief and joy. And, notice how tenderly, how uncertainly and weakly the artist gave a glimpse of joy and hope on the face of the one returning from hard labor. He entered the room when the sounds of the piano, at which his wife was sitting, had not yet died out. And the music, touching his ears, revived in his soul not thoughts or hopes, but for now only the feeling of the miracle of life and freedom. Repin painted the face of his hero in such a way that before our eyes there is a combination of everything scattered, everything lost: here together is his childhood and the orphan childhood of his children; the sound of heavy wheels that carried him along the autumn road; thirst for achievement and the implementation of this achievement through hard labor... Before us is a man who knows that life is more than happiness: that it is also sorrow; that freedom is difficult and sad, because it is life.
After exhibiting the painting at the exhibition “12th TPHV 1884-1885” and selling it to P.M. Tretyakov, I.E. Repin rewrote the face of the person entering three times (in 1885, 1887, 1888). A photograph of the painting before the change in the face of the exile in 1885 was taken by photographer A.I. Denier and presented to V.V. Stasov with a dedicatory inscription and the date - “October 21, 84”. The drawing for the catalog of the exhibition "12th TPHV 1884-1885", executed before the alteration of the exile's head in the painting, is in the SGKhM. Picturesque sketches for individual figures - in the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, the State Art Museum of Bashkortostan, in private collections in Russia and abroad. The State Tretyakov Gallery contains: one of the first sketches of the painting (brown paper, graphite pencil, shading, whitewash), a sketch for the figure of an exile (paper, graphite pencil) and drawings made in connection with the work on the painting (paper, graphite pencil, shading). The drawing “Old Man” for the figure warning the arrival of an exile, later abolished by Repin, is in the State Russian Museum.
K. LARINA - Well, we continue talking about beauty, after the “Book Casino” we go to the Tretyakov Gallery. And today before our eyes is Repin’s painting “We Didn’t Expect”, almost a joke, yes, yes, yes, but today we will talk seriously about this painting, I hope that Tatyana Yudenkova, researcher, will help us Tretyakov Gallery, good afternoon, Tatyana, hello. Ksenia Basilashvili, good afternoon to whom too.
K. BASILASHVILI - Good afternoon.
K. LARINA - And for starters, probably, about the prizes right away, Ksyusha.
K. BASILASHVILI - Yes, of course, about prizes. Today we will play for you, dear radio listeners, a wonderful book, this is the correspondence of Ilya Repin and Korney Chukovsky.
K. LARINA - Who published this, tell me?
K. BASILASHVILI - This “New Literary Review” pleased us with this publication, pleased us for some reason, because here, in my opinion, there are more than 60 letters, mostly this correspondence appears for the first time, i.e. we can find out for the first time how the relationship between these two outstanding people, Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky and Ilya Efimovich Repin, who lived nearby, nearby, there in Teriokki, in Teriokki, in Kuokkala, developed, and how they perceived the arrival Soviet power, as they were later separated, they ended up abroad, but still their correspondence did not stop. And of course, you can learn a lot about Repin and his character, he was incredibly strong, very interesting, highly educated, most talented person. I know you presented the book in detail at the Book Casino.
K. LARINA - Yes.
K. BASILASHVILI - But there is not only correspondence here, there is also a lot of illustrative material, reproductions. I want to say that this book was prepared by Galina Churak, she visited our radio station, art. Researcher, Head Department of painting of the second half of the 19th century at the State Tretyakov Gallery. And when Galina Churak comes to us, we, of course, will talk about this book in detail again. Such a wonderful gift, I think, I read this correspondence with pleasure, with pleasure. Please, Tatyana, please add.
T. YUDENKOVA - Yes, I would like to add that this book reveals to us the so-called late Repin, Repin of the nine hundred years and before last days his life. In general, the problem of the late Repin is a special problem of the so-called Repin studies, among those works that are devoted to Repin’s work. And this book sheds New World on his work, on his relationships, on his social circle.
K. BASILASHVILI - This is a man who, in the last stage of his life, was full of energy, energy, the kind of people he gathered around him near the Gulf of Finland, because there was the center of life.
T. YUDENKOVA - Of course.
K. BASILASHVILI – Cultural Center.
T. YUDENKOVA - Yes, yes, and despite his age, he was burning, burning with the desire to live, burning with the desire to paint the people around him, collected and attracted to himself like a magnet people of the most diverse creative aspirations, the most different characters, the most different professions. And all the people came to see him in Penate on Wednesdays with great interest; this was the only day when Repin’s estate was open to all guests. And of course, this spirit, this atmosphere of the Penate estate, it is certainly revealed in this very interesting publication. As for the illustrations, the compilers tried to collect those illustrations that reflect exactly late period Repin's creativity.
K. BASILASHVILI – And here are also all sorts of sketches and diaries.
T. YUDENKOVA - Yes, and his painting, which we know little about, was little illustrated, little was written about it, because somehow it was traditionally believed that this was the so-called emigrant period in Repin’s work.
K. BASILASHVILI - I ask questions. We have two questions, one question on the pager, the other question on the phone. Where should we start, Ksyusha?
K. LARINA - From a pager, probably.
K. BASILASHVILI - From a pager, okay. Who purchased from Repin his painting “Barge Haulers on the Volga,” which is now in the collection of the Russian Museum? Please, those who answer this question correctly will receive the edition we just talked about.
K. LARINA - And I’ll remind you the number of our pager, it works, 725 66 33, we are waiting for your answers. I already want the book, of course, I will definitely buy it, because I understand that this is simply wonderful literature.
K. BASILASHVILI - This is wonderful, yes, it is a testament to the time, a testament to the era.
K. LARINA - And it’s still such an absolutely terrible, turning point time, this, of course, is really good, thank you very much. So, let's start with "Cases", what do we have there today in "Cases"?
K. BASILASHVILI - “An Incident in the Museum”, Lidia Romashkova, who is the deputy. general director, for many years she was the main curator of the Tretyakov Gallery, she just remembers how they took out the main building during the reconstruction, how the works were taken out of there.
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L. ROMASHKOVA - It was a huge event and hard work to dismantle Alexander Ivanov’s “Appearance of Christ to the People”, because, firstly, it is very large, because it had to be carefully lowered to the floor. No devices, by hand, with large ropes, with large ropes, then they slowly laid her face down in the hall. They laid everything out on the floor, clean paper, everything that was needed was done, softly, it was in a frame, and then they took it out of the frame, laid it face down on the floor in order to remove it from the stretcher and roll it onto a roll. And when we were filming it, it was impossible for it to be distorted, then the stretcher would burst, the canvas could tear, it was a huge responsibility, it was very scary. I must say, we took it off for 5 days, so carefully, little by little, first, without removing the frame from the wall, we separated the frame. It was a huge, huge job, and a huge imagination of our restorers on how best to do it.
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K. LARINA - Now let’s return to the painting “They Didn’t Expect” by Repin, it’s probably worth reminding that there was a whole cycle, right, on such a prison theme?
T. YUDENKOVA - Repin’s Narodnaya Volya series was created on the prison theme, which began, the first painting was created in the late 70s, these works were kept in the artist’s studio, he showed them only to friends and relatives, he did not present them at exhibitions . And the painting “We Didn’t Expect,” a large version of the painting, he exhibited on the 12th traveling exhibition in 1884. And in fact, that’s why it can be distinguished, i.e. on the one hand, it seems to crown the Narodnaya Volya series.
K. LARINA - And then what, let’s name others, what is included in the most famous paintings, “Refusal of Confession”?
T. YUDENKOVA - “Refusal of Confession”, yes, which is now called “Before Confession”, because Repin himself called it “Confession”, and the name “Refusal of Confession” was given to the painting in 1937 at the anniversary exhibition of Repin, i.e. e. V Soviet time the emphasis has been shifted somewhat.
K. LARINA - I see.
T. YUDENKOVA - Yes, “The Arrest of the Propagandist”, two versions, “The Gathering”, which, again, was called “By the Light of a Lamp” by contemporaries and Repin, i.e. “Gathering” is a name that, again, arose later. “On a muddy road under escort”, this is the first piece, from 1876, which is also kept in the Tretyakov Gallery. But now all these works are in the Tretyakov Gallery, and when Repin worked on them, they were kept in the workshop, they were all executed in a small format. And the original version of “We Didn’t Expect” was also performed in a small format on wood. And unlike the large version, it depicted a smaller number of characters, and the main character was not an exile, but a girl student.
K. BASILASHVILI - This is incredible, now there are two films, and a large version, the final one, where, how many, 7 participants, in my opinion, if you count like that?
T. YUDENKOVA - Yes, seven, that's right.
K. BASILASHVILI – Seven participants, and includes main character, a man, hanging on the opposite wall, I noticed Repin in this hall, such a small sketch was completely invisible, I looked closely, there was a female figure, i.e. completely different, some other meaning, incredible.
K. LARINA - Another story.
K. BASILASHVILI – Actually, some other story.
T. YUDENKOVA - Yes, Repin began with this painting, with the small painting “They Didn’t Expect” in 1983, the memories of those contemporaries who visited Repin’s studio were preserved about it; indeed, there was a student student there, then he put it aside , apparently being dissatisfied with the development of the theme and plot, and proceeded to a large version, chose a large format, close to a square, saturated big amount characters and significantly deepened the issue itself. IN early painting, who remembers her, suddenly a student girl with a small briefcase enters the house, into such a bright room. And it takes the three characters who are in the room by surprise, and this work can be seen as a kind of psychological study in which the artist is exploring different reactions. Someone is unhappy.
K. BASILASHVILI – I can’t understand what is so unusual that a student entered the house?
K. LARINA - And I saw something there.
K. BASILASHVILI - Yes.
T. YUDENKOVA – Student student, student exile, i.e. this is a comeback.
K. BASILASHVILI - Ah, Vera Zasulich.
T. YUDENKOVA – An exiled student, yes, that is. This is a moment of some kind of intrigue, and a moment of surprise when a girl appears who was not expected. And behind her, for her, in fact, in her appearance there is some intrigue hidden. Why, in fact, were they not expecting her, why are they somehow wary of her, some are certainly happy about her return, while others are frowning, alarmed and do not understand how to react.
K. LARINA - That is. It’s still her family, her loved ones, right?
T. YUDENKOVA - Apparently, her family. But due to the fact that in this small sketch there was still this lack of clarity, the lack of clarity of the plot, then, apparently, Repin was still dissatisfied, and he leaves this work and begins his big work, where there were more characters, where there were more so-called telling details, revealing the plot itself and introducing the viewer into this complex dramaturgy of the picture. It is interesting that in this picture by Repin there is nothing accidental that just fell into this picture. Even those scenic paintings or photographs.
K. BASILASHVILI – Some portraits.
T. YUDENKOVA – There are portraits that hang on the wall, they are also significant, they reveal for the viewer, for the contemporary, today, of course, for us, for modern viewers, the intrigue that Repin put into this picture, on which he worked for quite a long time. And having exhibited it at a traveling exhibition in 1984, he then continued to make changes to this work, some changes, being, again, dissatisfied with that artistically, as if he had created.
K. BASILASHVILI - I think, Ksenia, that maybe at this point we should give the story in italics.
K. LARINA – Turn to the biography.
K. BASILASHVILI - Yes, the curator of Repin’s painting, this very painting “We Didn’t Expect” Lyubov Zahorenkova, will tell us about it.
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L. ZAKHORENKOVA – Repin’s painting was exhibited at the 12th traveling exhibition in St. Petersburg in 1884. Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov was in no hurry to buy the painting, although he had seen it in Repin’s studio and asked Stasov’s opinion about it. Stasov expressed enthusiasm for the painting, calling it Repin’s largest, most important and perfect creation. But by that time Tretyakov’s collection included more than three dozen first-class works by the artist, and he waited. The painting went on a trip around the province with an exhibition, and only at the end of the trip did Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov invite Repin to sell him the painting. But Repin replies that the Kiev collector Tereshchenko also wants to buy this painting, and the author himself is not going to sell it yet, because wants to rewrite his son's head. Repin rewrote the image of the main character, and then the picture came to Tretyakov. He bought it for 7 thousand rubles, this large sum, at first Tretyakov offered 5 thousand rubles, then raised it to 7. The story did not end there, two years later Repin came to Moscow, came to the Tretyakov gallery with a box of paints. The owner was not at home at the time. And he completely rewrote the image of the incoming person. When Tretyakov returned and saw this, he was terribly angry, because he believed that the painting was spoiled, and he scolded his charges very much about how they could allow Repin to violate the painting. After that, he looked for an opportunity to send Repin his canvas so that he would correct the image of the revolutionary. And already in 1988, he actually sent it to St. Petersburg, and Repin rewrote the head of the person entering for the third time; already in this edition we know this picture.
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K. LARINA - Listen, this is the first time I’ve ever heard this.
K. BASILASHVILI – This is an absolutely incredible moment.
K. LARINA - Yes, what a persistent artist, did this happen to him often, Tatyana?
K. BASILASHVILI - It happened.
K. LARINA - When did he break through?
T. YUDENKOVA - Repin was a very impulsive person, a lot happened in his life, a man who succumbed to his own feelings. But here, first of all, I would like to say why Repin was so eager to make some changes, first of all, in the image of the exile, because when the picture appeared at the exhibition, criticism was divided into exactly two camps. Some people accepted the painting, primarily Stasov, and said that it was a masterpiece of Russian painting, of the Russian school. Others were unhappy with this picture, first of all, they did not understand the plot. And criticism asked, who are these people gathered in this room, who is this person who has returned so incomprehensibly, who has entered the room, who is this woman who meets him, is she his mother, is she his wife or a governess, who, in response to the question of the person entering, asks what do you want? anything, as long as it's a lesson, home lesson, here you can see that children are sitting here reading books, he is interrupted.
K. BASILASHVILI – Didn’t they really understand in 1881?
T. YUDENKOVA – It was unclear to contemporaries.
K. BASILASHVILI - Let's remind you what time this is, 1881.
T. YUDENKOVA - This is the 84th.
K. BASILASHVILI - 84th, but why does this plot arise?
T. YUDENKOVA - Although in this version of the picture Repin had quite a lot of such hints about what was happening, and naturally, society was aware of the political events that were taking place in the country, in Russia, this began in the late 70s. , especially intensified after the assassination of Alexander II on March 1, 81. And it is no coincidence that in the first version of “They Didn’t Expect” on the wall Repin places a painting of Alexander the Second in a coffin, i.e. hint at political events and the connection, in fact, of the returning person with these events, with this murder. Also on the wall, which the viewer clearly sees, is Steuben’s engraving “Calvary”, famous at that time, which thus gave rise to associations of the way of the cross that this exiled revolutionary went through when he returned to Father's house, two portraits of democratic revolutionaries, Shevchenko and Nekrasov, all this created a complex of associations that should have led the viewer, the contemporary, to this plot, to the promotion, to this certain intrigue that was hidden in this picture. And yet, it was not clear to contemporaries, although many of the critics did not even adhere to the name given by Repin, they did not wait. And in critical reviews this picture was called “The Return of an Exile to His Family,” i.e. as if already completely placing the accents. And yet, the critics were dissatisfied, and, of course, the artist himself, he was somehow restless, in general he was often restless and often dissatisfied with his works and often, in fact, remade them, rewrote them.
K. LARINA - Tatyana, let's stop for now, since it's time for news, forgive me for God's sake, we'll listen to the news now, then we'll continue our meeting. I will only name our winners, who have already correctly answered the question of who purchased his painting “Barge Haulers on the Volga” from Repin. Our pager winners are Dmitry, phone 254, and Zoya, 413. Will we answer the same question? Another question, but the correct answer is Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich did it.
NEWS
K. LARINA – Let us remind you that our guest today is Tatyana Yudenkova, a researcher at the Tretyakov Gallery, we are talking about Repin’s painting “We Didn’t Expect”, but there is so much I want to tell you, but we still don’t have time, something always bothers us. For example, now we have to ask our listeners another question.
K. BASILASHVILI - Yes, the question is connected with life in Penate, life on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, where Ilya Efimovich Repin, already an elderly man, but at the same time full of energy, gathered around him a circle of young, promising poets, writers, and artists. So, the question is, this poet drew a very good portrait Repin with coal. The artist really liked the sketch, and he even hung it in his office in Penates. Please name this young poet.
K. LARINA - But this is not Pushkin, we warn you right away.
K. BASILASHVILI - Not Pushkin, no.
K. LARINA - By phone live broadcast 783-90-25 or 90-26, probably in 3-4 minutes. And now our guest will be Yuri Grymov, who was the first to “revive” on our television the most famous masterpieces, including the masterpieces of the Tretyakov Gallery, remember his famous animated paintings as such, the interprogram space of television, and let's listen to what he says about his favorite paintings.
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Y. GRYMOV - It’s difficult to talk about any absolutely favorite paintings, because the word “favorite” probably implies only one, so there is no such thing. I have been painting since childhood, and if that painting in the Tretyakov Gallery, which gives me goosebumps, is connected, perhaps not even with its artistic value, but with childhood memories, there is such an artist, Flavitsky, and such a good painting as “Princess Tarakanova." I collected stamps as a child through painting, and the biggest problem for me was to buy this stamp, and it took us a long time to change it, etc., so I have the following for this picture, connected with my passion for philately, the whole picture is drawn quite well , in my opinion, it’s strange, too ostentatious, when a girl, everything floods her, she looks up very much, I don’t really feel any feelings, but there is one amazing muscle there, near the water, which runs from the water onto the bed to our princess. This little mouse with this tail, these stains, in my opinion, the only one in this picture who was afraid of this nightmare is a mouse, but not a princess. Although the artist, it seems to me, is a very decent one, Flavitsky, he has amazing works. And this is a bit of a packaging job, more external rather than internal. Now, if I go to the Tretyakov Gallery, it’s like in a time machine I fly back to my childhood.
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K. LARINA - In general, story paintings, they are, of course, such a space for the imagination that is absolutely boundless. I even remember my years of study at theater institute, we had a whole science there, we made sketches from paintings, mainly those with the same plot.
T. YUDENKOVA - And according to “We didn’t expect”?
K. LARINA - Yes, and “We didn’t expect”, of course, too, what happens before, what happened during, what will happen after, this is such a whole story, it seems to me that this requires a separate conversation, Tatyana.
T. YUDENKOVA - Yes, this is a whole dramaturgy that Repin built on this canvas. And here, of course, it is very interesting that, looking at this picture, and Repin wrote about his canvases, plot canvases, genre, historical, he once advised one of his correspondents - you need to look closely at my picture, you need to look at it and see all these subtle connections that the artist reflects on and embodies in this painting. And this picture in this sense, it is certainly a very interesting phenomenon, because here in this picture we see the past, which is visible behind the back of this exile, so he came, here the maid opened the doors, this road is visible behind her. It’s as if… this dust is still visible on his boots, a rope clasps his neck, which gives rise to associations, oh, a scarf clasps, which gives rise to associations with the rope that only recently was on his neck, it’s like a feeling of the past that this brings a man, quite dark, enters the house in some kind of silhouette, and there is a certain pause. And the viewer, here the canvas is built in such a way that the viewer immediately imagines this situation in his mind, what will follow, after this second, after this split second that Repin depicts. Will follow stormy meeting, i.e. some future. And in this picture Repin in some extraordinary way interweaves both the past and the future in this single moment of the present. In this sense, the picture is, of course, unique.
K. LARINA – Still, some real story, is there someone’s specific fate behind this plot?
T. YUDENKOVA - You know, it is not known about the specific fate, but, of course, these were the fates of many, many exiles and Narodnaya Volya members who were convicted, who went through these trials. And they were amnestied on the occasion of Emperor Alexander III’s accession to the throne.
K. LARINA - Why did this topic worry him so much? What's going on with our politics?
T. YUDENKOVA - Repin generally responded very sensitively to all those social and political events that generally took place in the country.
K. BASILASHVILI - No, but, excuse me, excuse me, it’s one thing to respond sensitively, and another thing to sense the situation, in in this case, did he sense the conjuncture that Alexander, the new ruler, would accept it, maybe even buy it?
T. YUDENKOVA - Repin was often accused of opportunism, but I don’t think that Repin, in this case, when he was working on this picture, he had any...
K. BASILASHVILI - Praise to the new sovereign who released these people.
T. YUDENKOVA - Repin was far from this, he was a very independent person, a fairly self-sufficient artist, in the 80s. Alexander the Third had not yet thought about forming a museum of Russian art; these ideas arose later. And when creating this picture, Repin did not have any such thoughts, this is absolutely certain.
K. LARINA - Still Political Views What were his, did he somehow share the views of the Narodnaya Volya, yes, did he support these revolutionary trends?
T. YUDENKOVA - He was interested, he was certainly interested in it as a phenomenon, it was no coincidence that the Narodnaya Volya series arose, it was no coincidence. And we are just returning to where we left off, why Repin did this, Repin needed change so much. In the early 80s, in fact, when the picture appeared, the attitude towards the Narodnaya Volya members was twofold in society, society was divided into two camps, some, of course, accepted the Narodnaya Volya members and regarded them as apostles of truth, which, of course. Others viewed them as criminals who violated the first and main commandment- don't kill. By the mid-80s. the attitude towards the Narodnaya Volya is certainly changing, changing towards the latter, Repin feels this very subtly. And in fact, critics who, watching his painting at an exhibition in 84, wondered what it is, how to treat it, what it is, it was clear that Repin himself did not give his answer, his attitude to what happened. His exile, his Narodnaya Volya member, according to Stasov, was proud, he proudly entered and began this communication. The final reworking of 1988, in the image of an exile, the vulnerability of his position appears, he is not sure, he does not know how he will be received.
K. LARINA - That is. there is even some kind of remorse, there is this moment.
T. YUDENKOVA - There is this, of course, yes, and the accent, the accent changes, and when we look at this picture, we see an absolutely amazing, psychologically revealed image of the mother, given from the back, as if from the back.
K. LARINA - Why does the mother know that this is the mother? I thought it was my wife.
T. YUDENKOVA - By age, by age, she is most likely a mother, but, in this case, it does not matter. Her condition is important, how she rises, abruptly she rises from the chair, how her trembling hand touches the chair, so she barely has time to realize that an unexpected, unexpected event happened, it was not expected, it was not expected so soon. These are words from Repin's letter. This is a state of some kind of trepidation, expectation, that’s what, in fact, Repin’s task was already in the later version. And in his eyes there is uncertainty, there is how he will be received, and, in fact, whether his life path is justified, hence the “Calvary” on the wall.
K. BASILASHVILI – That is. to some extent, this is also a repetition of Ivanovo’s “Appearance of Christ,” right?
T. YUDENKOVA - Of course, definitely.
K. BASILASHVILI - There, where too?
T. YUDENKOVA - And you are certainly right here, because Stasov, when he wrote, for him the painting “The Appearance of the Messiah” by Ivanov and the exile from “We Didn’t Expect”, these were, as they say, apparitions, there is the appearance of the Messiah, who brings renewal humanity, hope for the enlightenment of humanity, here is the same theme of the phenomenon that runs through the entire history of art, but the phenomenon is the opposite. Because he, being, his appearance is a phenomenon prodigal son, as a matter of fact.
K. LARINA - I thought too, yes.
T. YUDENKOVA - You see, in fact, that situation is like wandering of the Russian intelligentsia, Repin has words on this topic, he certainly thought about it, certainly.
K. BASILASHVILI - But it’s also interesting, excuse me, that in one of the intermediate sketches of this picture the head, portrait, portrait of an entering person is very reminiscent of the portrait of the writer Garshin.
T. YUDENKOVA - Yes.
K. BASILASHVILI – This is absolutely amazing.
T. YUDENKOVA - And among the intermediate options, since there were, according to some experts, three processings, according to others, four processings, we will not go into this now, but, indeed, at one point Tretyakov wrote that when Would Garshin not be suitable for reworking the image? Tretyakov also advised Repin to turn to this image. Repin and Garshin had an amazing relationship, so warm, friendly, friendly, at that time they communicated, and one of the images is very reminiscent of the image of this writer. And in these same years, in 84 or 85, I don’t remember exactly now, Repin painted a portrait of Garshin, which today is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in America.
K. LARINA - Listen, I took to look at the reproduction that is in the book, Igor Grabar, “Repin”, this is a monograph, I was shocked that it was 1937.
T. YUDENKOVA - Yes, yes.
K. LARINA – I just wanted to ask how this picture was generally perceived in our difficult times.
K. BASILASHVILI - Yes, she was killed in our time, this is a picture.
K. LARINA - Was this painting even there, was it seen, was it not banned, hidden?
T. YUDENKOVA - She, the same picture in the 30s, 50s. in Soviet times, it crowned the Narodnaya Volya series.
K. BASILASHVILI - Of course, we wrote summaries on it, don’t you remember?
T. YUDENKOVA - Everything was fine with this picture.
K. LARINA – The associations are completely different.
T. YUDENKOVA – And it was precisely in Soviet times that Repin was turned into an ideologically engaged artist, and it was here that everything was logical and everything was clear.
K. BASILASHVILI – What we just talked about the Narodnaya Volya members who bring light, I remember these presentations at school, which simply made me feel bad, I hated this picture “They didn’t expect it.” Only now am I beginning to understand some of its meaning, to be honest.
T. YUDENKOVA – I would just like to say once again that everything in this picture is so thought out and the composition is so built in an interesting way, that this picture is revealed to us by its polysemy of meanings, there is a lot inherent in it, it is, in fact, a philosophical picture. And in a sense, it can be considered as a self-portrait of Russian society in Russian painting, because it reveals those complex vicissitudes of time.
K. LARINA - Tanya, but you must agree that there is little joy in her, no one knows what will happen next, because there is a certain numbness there.
T. YUDENKOVA – Nobody knows what will happen next, of course.
K. LARINA - And the question, rather, Lord, is what will happen.
T. YUDENKOVA - Moreover, I can tell you more, if you look closely at this picture, it is constructed in a very interesting way, there is a double perspective, there are, as it were, two worlds, there is a world of an exile, who seems to fall over, he walks, this is what through space, and the world of a mother with her children, the world of home, this is a closed, quiet, calm world, and be sure to pay attention, the window is open to the garden. There is fresh greenery, washed by the rain, this is also very important, this is the flesh of life, which was important for Repin, which certainly has its role in this picture.
K. BASILASHVILI – What kind of place is this picture painted? Is the room itself recognizable?
T. YUDENKOVA – The room itself is not so much recognizable, but it is known that Repin began painting this picture in Martyshkino, near Oranienbaum.
K. BASILASHVILI – Near St. Petersburg.
T. YUDENKOVA - Near St. Petersburg, yes, but in the memoirs of Vsevolod Savvich Mamontov there is mention that Repin began to paint this picture in Abramtsevo at Dronov’s dacha, that, in particular, the maid, the maid Nadya, posed. There are different opinions about who posed, but maybe in the end it doesn’t matter.
K. BASILASHVILI – It’s important, let’s talk about it, yes, who posed is interesting.
T. YUDENKOVA - People close to the artist posed, of course, this was his wife, daughter Vera, wife Vera Alekseevna Shevtsova.
K. BASILASHVILI - A daughter is a girl, right, small?
T. YUDENKOVA - Yes, the boy - Seryozha Kostychev, everything is written about this in detail in the book by Igor Grabar.
K. BASILASHVILI – Who is Seryozha Kostychev?
T. YUDENKOVA - They were family friends and communicated.
K. LARINA - The neighbor's boy?
T. YUDENKOVA - The neighbor's boy, one might say, yes. In the image of a mother - Repin's mother-in-law. Also in one of the early ones, we have pencil drawing, in which there was another character in the film, this is a warning old man who warns about the arrival of this exile. And here the researchers also assume different things, some say that it was Repin’s father-in-law, some are an artist, but it doesn’t matter, final version Repin got rid of this character, and worked on the images for quite a long time and a lot. And there is whole line preparatory studies for this work.
K. LARINA - Let us now accept the correct answer, because otherwise we will forget later.
GAME WITH LISTENERS
K. LARINA - It’s so nice when people are so happy, which means good hands We give away the gift.
K. BASILASHVILI - Of course, yes.
K. LARINA - Otherwise we already have professionals, Tatyana, we have such professional players who already receive a lot of things as gifts and no longer experience such joy, such delight. And Marina is just great, thank you very much.
K. BASILASHVILI – The topic is also close and interesting to her.
K. LARINA - Come on, since we have very little time left, literally 7 minutes before the end of the broadcast, I think that Tatyana will decide for herself what is important, what we definitely still need to say, referring to this picture, I hope that We will return to Repin later.
K. BASILASHVILI - We will definitely return to Repin, firstly, to the painting, which was also destroyed, but, in this case, physically and rewritten by the artist, this is “Ivan the Terrible Cleans Up, Kills His Son.”
K. LARINA – Cleans practically. Tatyana, what about political censorship in general at that time, how did it relate to these types of stories?
T. YUDENKOVA – It is known that there was political censorship periodically, i.e. a censorship ban was imposed on the series, but with this picture everything went peacefully and calmly, however, in the final version, I forgot to add, Repin removed the connection of this Narodnaya Volya directly with the death of Alexander the Second. He made this photograph indistinguishable in order to emphasize, again, the moment of searching for the meaning of life, the awareness of the meaning of one and only human life in this picture, because time was already changing, Russian culture was approaching the turn of the 90s, to symbolism, and Repin was sensitive to these changes, his circle of friends was changing.
K. BASILASHVILI - What else is hanging on the wall there, besides Alexander the Second?
T. YUDENKOVA - Alexander II, Nekrasov, Shevchenko, “Calvary”, which I mentioned, there are several photographs here, they are indistinguishable. What is also interesting about this picture is that it reflects the life of the Russian intelligentsia of those years, this is practically the only interior by which we can judge how it was then, geographic map, which testifies to the breadth of interests, yes, and the interrupted playing of the piano, all this also seems to create a certain atmosphere. I would also like to say a few words about the original version with which we started, which depicts a girl student, it’s interesting that...
K. LARINA - He’s somehow more dear to you, I see, right?
T. YUDENKOVA - No, I certainly value the big option, but this one small option, it was postponed, and in the 90s. Repin started working on it again, she somehow very quickly ended up in the collection of Ostroukhov, who wanted this small picture, he liked it very much, he wanted it to be in his collection. And when already in Soviet years started researching this work, took an x-ray, then under the image of a girl student was discovered male image, so quite heavy, stooped, in some kind of large overcoat or fur coat, either with a stick in his hands, or with some kind of stick. And the X-ray image itself testified that Repin was looking for this image; there, under the female image, there was originally a male image. Both this transformation and the search for this composition indicate that this painting was given to Repin with great difficulty. He talked about this more than once, and when he was haggling about the price with Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov, he added that I got this painting twice as much as “The Procession.”
K. BASILASHVILI – And Repin himself was not afraid in the post-revolutionary years that he found that this picture could be made into an icon new government, and the artist, in general, did not strive to get closer to her?
T. YUDENKOVA - You know, I think that in those years...
K. BASILASHVILI – Didn’t he rethink it somehow?
T. YUDENKOVA - It was still somewhat early for such conclusions, because, of course, in the 20s. he was interested in what was happening in St. Petersburg, in Russia, having found himself so unexpectedly cut off from Russia.
K. LARINA - He wanted to return, right?
K. BASILASHVILI – I never wanted to.
K. LARINA - And I wrote a letter.
K. BASILASHVILI - No.
T. YUDENKOVA - Here opinions differ, and Repin very often contradicted himself, today he said one thing, tomorrow he said something else, he was not shy about it, he was not shy.
K. LARINA - Did you write a letter to the Soviet authorities with a request?
K. BASILASHVILI - He wrote a letter asking that his daughter not be arrested, with a petition.
K. LARINA - And with a request that it be returned?
T. YUDENKOVA - He wanted to come to his anniversary exhibition, which was held in St. Petersburg and Moscow in 24, but it’s not entirely clear how quickly the invitation came and whether the invitation came after the opening of the exhibition, somehow this is the case there, it is not fully clarified. He expressed such a desire, on the one hand. On the other hand, he said that, to some of his loved ones, he was afraid. Of course, these fears existed, and he had some very objective information about what was happening, but, of course, it was very difficult for him to live in Penates, in Finland, being cut off from Russia, from Russian culture, because the Russian emigration then they treated him pretty badly and it was hard for him, it was Civil War, hunger, and cold, and he experienced everything in these last senile years. But he still needed recognition, he wanted communication, which he had throughout his life, because he said about himself that he lived a very happy creative life. And once in the 90s, when one of his anniversaries was celebrated, he said that I really lived happily, I had everything, I worked under inspiration and as a reward, I had a large number of fans and knew how to bask in this glory, bathed in this glory. And until the end of his life he carries this love for life, for art, and already in last years he talks about that - but I am still the same, loving art, now I don’t remember, of course, some words, loving art, and wherever I am, always, anywhere globe I always spend my morning hours doing my favorite thing, my art.
K. LARINA - I still want to return to this moment, but the Soviet government did not try to return it?
T. YUDENKOVA - I tried, delegations came to him, Brodsky came to him, Lunacharsky came, he was invited, he made promises, but, nevertheless, something happened, somehow this situation dragged on. And so he never returned.
K. LARINA - Did this somehow affect his loved ones who remained in Russia?
T. YUDENKOVA – Left him youngest daughter Tatyana, who through the efforts of people close to him, including Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky, and, in my opinion, Lunacharsky participated in this, she was still, she was given permission to leave Russia, to visit her aging, dying father.
K. BASILASHVILI - Yes, but after he turned, the aging father petitioned the Soviet authorities, including through Chukovsky, because Tatyana, in general, was on the verge of arrest and was left in one place without a livelihood from the villages, right?
T. YUDENKOVA - In Zdravnevo, it was located on Repin’s estate, which he acquired.
K. BASILASHVILI - And he knew everything about this, how could he return in such a situation, what kind of lie was this, when, on the one hand, his name is, on the other hand, his family is treated like this?
K. LARINA - So she went to him, she was allowed to leave. And further?
T. YUDENKOVA - She came, yes, to him, she visited him a month before his death.
K. LARINA - And then she returned or stayed?
T. YUDENKOVA - No, she did not return.
K. LARINA - Naturally.
T. YUDENKOVA - Yes, she stayed. Actually, Lunacharsky, as far as we know, he helped many children or descendants of Russian artists to go abroad, this is a well-known fact.
K. LARINA - You know that, of course, we must make one more program, at least one more.
K. BASILASHVILI - Of course.
K. LARINA - According to Repin, I think that then in the next program separately, maybe we’ll talk about his life path, because today we only stopped at one painting, yes.
T. YUDENKOVA - Of course, such great artist, today somehow it happened in fits and starts.
K. LARINA - Well, what should we do, let’s outline an action plan for Repin and we’ll wait for Tatyana, as I understand it, you all know about Repin.
T. YUDENKOVA – In our gallery there are many specialists in Repin, yes.
K. LARINA - Tatyana Yudenkova, researcher at the Tretyakov Gallery, is our guest today. And now we must turn to the announcements, i.e. invitations to exhibitions, including the Tretyakov Gallery. Let me remind you, this is the Tretyakov Collection, next Sunday who will we study, Ksyusha?
K. BASILASHVILI – Next Sunday we will have a painting, a portrait of Kiprensky “Pushkin”, because we are going out on June 4, on the eve of Alexander Sergeevich’s birthday.
K. LARINA - Okay, get ready.
In the USSR they loved Repin's "People's Will" paintings: "The Arrest of the Propagandist", "Refusal of Confession" and, of course, "They Didn't Expect". In my opinion, the faces of the characters in “We Didn’t Expect” evoke nothing but horror. Some zombies, not people. Here is the central fragment of this picture, see for yourself:
The paintings that hang on the walls of the room deserve special attention. On the right hangs “Portrait of Alexander II on his deathbed” by Makovsky.
And Repin began work on his painting, being impressed by the most terrible crime of the Narodnaya Volya - the murder of Alexander II.
Easily recognizable portraits of Shevchenko and Nekrasov hang on the central wall.
But these portraits should not be viewed on their own, but in the context of the painting that is located between them! This is Carl Steuben's painting "On Calvary".
An attentive person immediately understands that Repin is comparing the democrats Shevchenko and Nekrasov with the robbers Dismas and Gestas, crucified on Calvary next to Christ. Moreover, Steuben’s painting depicts two crosses raised for the crucifixion of these two robbers.
Repin’s painting “They Didn’t Expect” is unlikely to sympathize with the revolutionaries-People’s Will-Democrats. Fortunately, the Soviet censors missed this fig in their pocket.
Probably, few paintings by classical artists are as popular among manufacturers of so-called “phototoads” as the painting “We Didn’t Expect” by Ilya Repin.
Given the abundance of humorous interpretations and plots, it is useful to recall what the original looks like and what the artist actually depicted on his canvas.
We didn’t wait - Ilya Efimovich Repin. 1884. Oil on canvas. 160.5x167.5
One of the most famous paintings by Repin, thanks to school anthologies and textbooks, is known to every schoolchild. The plot of the work is the return of an exiled revolutionary home after imprisonment. The picture is filled with a thick and viscous atmosphere. The depicted moment allows you to study it from all angles. Everything is here - tense indecision, fear, admiration, joy, fear... The crosshairs of glances are the key to the plot.
The central figure is an exile. His eyes are especially expressive against the background of his haggard face; there is a question in them, tense expectation. At the same time, it is obvious that the exile did not break the revolutionary; he remained true to his views.
The eyes of all those present are directed towards the main character: from the openly frightened to the delighted ones of the children; full of restrained condemnation - the maid; the cook is curious.
The only figure in the picture whose eyes we do not see is interesting - this is a woman (mother?) in black. Her gaze is more likely to be guessed by her pose: tense and static.
One gets the feeling that in the next second the situation will be resolved: those present will rush to hug their suddenly returned relative, or, on the contrary, will turn away from him and ask him not to bother him anymore. The author leaves the resolution of the situation outside the scope of his work. We have a moment of decision before us...
Well, below the cut are the wittiest of the huge variety of “unexpected people” based on famous painting:
16.03.2017
In order to understand the picture, you need to carefully examine it, analyze each character, i.e. pay attention to the details, listen to your emotions and feelings from a particular picture, enter into a dialogue with it, ask yourself the necessary questions that will help to fully reveal the author’s intention.
Let's do all of the above using the following picture as an example: 
I. Repin “We didn’t expect”, 1884-1887
What do we see in the picture?
Bright room. A man had just entered it. Judging by the reaction of his family, his arrival was unexpected. Everyone at home is confused.
What does this person look like? What emotions does he feel?
He has strange clothes, a tormented face and deep-sunk eyes. There is a question in the eyes, tense anticipation. There is some kind of uncertainty in the turn of his head, in his whole appearance. He paused, undecided. No one was expecting him, and his arrival was a surprise. This can be seen from the way all the people in the room reacted to his appearance.
How does the wife feel? How does she look? What are children thinking about?
The wife, the woman sitting at the piano, seems weak and sickly. She is confused and delighted.
The girl looks at him from under her brows, seriously and sternly. It is quite obvious that she does not know him or does not remember him. And with what delight the boy looks at the newcomer. He recognized him, he is glad. Another moment - and with a cry of delight he will rush to his father.
What does the mother look like? What gestures of hers describe her emotions and are telling to us?
The mother rose from her chair. She doesn't believe her eyes. Perhaps she did not even hope to see her son in her lifetime. Her hunched back, hand pressed to her chest, reveals to us the whole palette of her experiences.
What does a maid look like? What do her gestures say?
Her face expresses bewilderment: did she do the right thing by letting this unfamiliar, poorly dressed gentleman into the house? Will the hostess reprimand you for this action?
She is still holding onto the door handle. This gesture further emphasizes her fear: she slightly opened the door, but did not open it and timidly let a stranger into the room.
Having analyzed the picture, we understand that the artist wanted to tell the story of the exiles, but not the story of the horrors of the camps, but the horror inside each returning person:
- How will the family react to his return? Are they even waiting for him? Maybe the wife got married. Will she even be able to forgive him? Maybe she never approved of his revolutionary activities and warned about the terrible consequences this could lead to for the family.
- Will he find his mother alive?
- what does a person experience when own child doesn't recognize him?
It is very, very difficult to paint a picture with such extreme simplicity and convincingness. To convey his plot, the artist must choose a moment in which the character of each of the characters would appear especially fully. Let's imagine that he chose not this moment, but another:
Everyone already recognized the newcomer. The son ran up more quickly than others and hung on his father’s neck. The mother came up on one side, the wife on the other. The girl is probably still wild and perplexed, and the maid continues to stand at the door. Or maybe she’s already gone: she realized that her man had come, and left so as not to disturb.
If it were like this, would we understand what happened? That the exile has returned, that a drama has occurred... Why is the boy rejoicing, why is the girl looking from under her brows, and the mother and wife are rushing to the newcomer?
Almost everyone has the same emotions - everyone is happy. How much different emotions shows us the original?
Or the artist would depict an even later moment: the head of the family has washed himself, changed his clothes, and in the family circle is talking about something he has experienced. Again, everything would not be as clear as it is now. We would think that it's all about interesting story, which everyone listens to so carefully. Is it possible to find out in such a plot complex drama experienced by the family? Of course not. This is why the choice of the moment that will be depicted in the picture is so important.
It is known that Repin rewrote the face of the main character several times: either making him sublimely heroic, or suffering-tired.
When preparing the material, the book by B. Ehrengross “According to the Laws of Beauty” was used, Publishing House: Detgiz, 1961.
