Repin's Boat-Towers keep towing on

A blockbuster solo show of the Russian classic Ilya Repin (1844–1930) is now on view at the Tretyakov Gallery. Repin’s oeuvre is still relevant today, as proven by the numerous interpretations of his iconic masterpiece “Boat-Towers on the Volga” in contemporary art.

Whenever one thinks of realism in 19th-century Russian art, the name Ilya Repin is the first to spring to mind. He was equally strong in portraiture, historical painting and dramatic depictions of contemporary life. “Boat-Towers on the Volga” (1870-1873), finished soon after his graduation from the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, was his first major work dedicated to the poignant issues in the society of his time. Repin became interested in the subject after seeing boat-towers on Neva River that flows through St. Petersburg. He began working on the sketches for the painting during a steamboat trip along the Volga, which he took with two fellow artists in the summer of 1870. In the age of steamboats, the use of humans as draught animals was already considered the epitome of barbarism and exploitation. Boat-towers were the outcasts of society and often had criminal records. Repin depicts these downtrodden victims of social inequity as human beings possessing their own individuality and dignity. Due to its unglamourous subject matter, the painting caused a mild shock when first exhibited. Yet it was acclaimed by critics at the time and was later much favoured by the machine of Soviet propaganda. In the Soviet era, reproductions could be found in primary school textbooks, making the painting a familiar sight for every child. It was used to show how dreadful the life of common people had been before 1917's October Revolution, as opposed to the prosperity the masses supposedly enjoyed in the USSR. However, while the comparison might have impressed primary school students, more mature minds could instantly feel its blatant hypocrisy. Life in USSR was no less harsh than in Tsarist Russia, and millions of innocent starving, cold GULAG inmates were doing hard physical labor no less grueling than Repin’s burlaki — who were at least paid for their work. Repin's easily recognizable composition was often re-worked by anti-establishment artists in an ironic or sarcastic way. This tradition is alive even now, long after the collapse of the Soviet empire. The Communist system may be gone for good, but the ideological clichés and counter-clichés of the time are not so easy to erase from cultural memory.

Dmitry Gutov. Burlaki (The Boat-Towers). 2016. The painting is a part of a series of Gutov’s homages to the iconic works of Russian 19th century realists favored by the Soviet propaganda machine

Kirill Miller. Mit’ki – the Boat-Towers of Culture. A collective portrait of the St. Petersburg underground art group Mit’ki, active in the 1980s and 90s, who were known for their ironic interpretations of urban folk culture in painting, music and literature, as well as for having a soft spot for sailors’ attire

Alexander Savko. The Ministry warns against the dangers of a pirate lifestyle. 2007. Boat-towers are depicted as pirates and the title refers to the Public Health Ministry’s warnings printed on cigarette packages

Alexander Savko. In front of the Monument to the Burlaki. 2007. Two narratives of popular culture collide to create an absurd effect: Bart Simpson, the American hero, gives a concert in front of the imaginary monument to these Russian heroes, the Boat-Towers

Anatoly Brusilovsky. Burlaki (The Boat-Towers). 1970. Two poles of the Cold War world are juxtaposed in this playful collage, with the East represented by boat-towers and the West by a model from a Western erotic magazine who seems to flirt with the viewer over their heads. Photo courtesy of Vladey

Vladimir Potapov. Burlaki (The Boat-Towers). 2014. The oil-on-plexiglas painting was made for a project “Burlaki: between Europe and Asia” several international artists were invited to create works based on Repin’s masterpiece during the Shiryaevo biennale on the Volga, in the very place where the original painting was conceived