Barge Haulers on the Volga

Barge Haulers on the Volga
Barge Haulers on the Volga
Artist	Ilya Repin
Year	1870–1873
Medium	Oil-on-canvas
Dimensions	131.5 cm × 281 cm (51.8 in × 111 in)
Location	State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

Barge Haulers on the Volga or Burlaki (Russian: Бурлаки на Волге, Burlaki na Volge) is an 1870–1873 oil-on-canvas painting by artist Ilya Repin. It depicts 11 men physically dragging a barge on the banks of the Volga River. They are at the point of collapse from exhaustion, oppressed by heavy, hot weather.^[1]^[2]

Although they are presented as stoical and accepting, the men are defeated; only one stands out: in the center of both the row and canvas, a brightly colored youth fights against his leather binds and takes on a heroic pose.

Repin conceived the painting during his travels through Russia as a young man and depicts actual characters he encountered. It drew international praise for its realistic portrayal of the hardships of working men, and launched his career.^[3] Soon after its completion, the painting was purchased by Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich and exhibited widely throughout Europe as a landmark of Russian realist painting. Barge Haulers on the Volga has been described as "perhaps the most famous painting of the Peredvizhniki movement [for]....its unflinching portrayal of backbreaking labor".^[4]

^ Frank, Joseph. "Dostoevsky: The Mantle of the Prophet, 1871–1881". Princeton University Press, 2003. 111. ISBN 0-691-11569-9
^ Not long after Repin's painting, burlakis were replaced by steam powered tug-boats
^ Hilton, Alison. "The Exhibition of Experiments in St. Petersburg and the Independent Sketch". The Art Bulletin, Volume 70, No. 4, December 1988. 677–698
^ "Ilya Repin, Barge-Haulers on the Volga (1870–73) Archived 1 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine". The Museum of Russian Art. Retrieved 18 January 2010.

[Frank111-1] Frank, Joseph. "Dostoevsky: The Mantle of the Prophet, 1871–1881". Princeton University Press, 2003. 111. ISBN 0-691-11569-9

[2] Not long after Repin's painting, burlakis were replaced by steam powered tug-boats

[AH-3] Hilton, Alison. "The Exhibition of Experiments in St. Petersburg and the Independent Sketch". The Art Bulletin, Volume 70, No. 4, December 1988. 677–698

[4] "Ilya Repin, Barge-Haulers on the Volga (1870–73) Archived 1 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine". The Museum of Russian Art. Retrieved 18 January 2010.

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