Barge Haulers on the Volga
1870–1873 · Oil on canvas · State Russian Museum, St Petersburg
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About this work
- Artist
- Ilya Repin (1844–1930)
- Year
- 1870–1873
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 131.5 × 281 cm
- Collection
- State Russian Museum, St Petersburg
- Movement
- Realism
Eleven men in harness drag a barge up the Volga, leaning into their straps across a strip of sand under a pale hot sky; at the head is the broad-faced Kanin, a defrocked priest whom Repin called a face like Socrates, and in the middle a young man, Larka, straightens up and loosens his strap. Repin saw haulers on the Neva in 1868 and spent the summers of 1870 and 1872 on the Volga at Shiryaevo drawing them, learning their names and histories. The painting was shown in 1873 and bought by the Grand Duke Vladimir; Dostoevsky praised it for refusing to preach, and it made the twenty-nine-year-old painter the leading figure of Russian realism. It is in the State Russian Museum in St Petersburg, the most famous image of labour in Russian art.
This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A line of harnessed men hauling a barge along a pale sandbank under a hazy sky, in ochre, dusty blue and brown, a very wide painting for a study, hallway or office at 24×36 in black. Sand, stone or slate walls suit the dusty light; pair it with Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Exhibition poster of a Realism painting
- Era
- 19th century (1870–1873)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cream & beige
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, home office, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×36. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Barge Haulers on the Volga in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Barge Haulers on the Volga painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
