Ilya Repin - The Cossacks Reply and other Histories
A painting which was 11 years in the making - Ilya Repin’s “Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks” is a monumental achievement in what can only be described as “Grotesque Realism”
The story being painted here is based on a a popular legend in Russia at the time; of how a group of Cossacks bravely fought against the might of an Ottoman army in the 1670s. And, when asked to surrender - they gathered together in order to compose a letter in response which would contain as much insult and vulgarity as they could possibly come up with!
Thus, when we look at Repin’s masterpiece, there is a very intentional sense of exaggerating the crudeness of these rough and rowdy men.
They are not villains. (In many ways, he is painting them because they are supposed to be heroes). But, certainly, they are not conducting themselves with much dignity here either - which highlights once again how war itself can bring out the very worst in us all.
So in that sense, perhaps Repin’s Cossacks should be considered alongside Gericault’s “Raft of the Medusa” or Goya’s “Black paintings” as among the most impressive masterpieces which are also almost too severe for us to even look at!
However, this shock factor is by no means a defining feature of Repin’s wider career.
So, for those of you who may not have come across his art before - I wanted to also include a few other works here today as a kind of counterbalance too. Because there is no doubt at all of this man being one of the most talented Russian painters of the 19th (and early 20th) Century.
1. A Paris cafe - 1875
(Museum of Avant-Garde Art, Moscow)
2. Two Portraits of Leo Tolstoy
Left: From 1887, aged 59
Right: From 1908, aged 80 (Painted two years before Tolstoy’s death)
(Fun Fact: Repin painted well over 300 portraits in his career - working for some of the most famous people of his age including leaders, political figures, and composers. But while his friendship with Leo Tolstoy led to a series of exceptional portraits of the great man - the same could not be said for another of the most famous Russian Writers, Fyador Dostoyevsky.
In fact, Repin apparently had such a dislike for Dostoyevsky’s work and philosophical outlook on life, he was one of the few people the artist categorically refused to work with!)
3. Portrait of the Actress Eleanor Duse - 1891
4. Tsar Alexander III receives local government officials at Petrovsky Palace (1886)
5. Portrait of Alexander Glazunov (Composer) - 1887
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