Looking through the paintings that were assigned for class, I was drawn to Repin, who, similar to how Tolstoy is to written work, is often the one Russian painter that everyone knows. Again same as Tolstoy, I think this renowned praise is earned if not understated.<\/p>\n
Specifically, I gravitated to Repin\u2019s \u201cThe Barge Haulers on the Volga\u201d which although magnificent to look at just on a computer screen, I am sure can\u2019t compare to seeing the wall sized canvas in person. This painting struck me as a case study for our transition of units, from the artistic elevation of the rural peasant life to Russian revival and Russia\u2019s belated adoption of modernization. In \u201cThe Barge Haulers,\u201d Repin encapsulates this transition from physical laborer to modern machine.<\/p>\n
In the paintings foreground are the barge haulers themselves, who are painted dimly all looking tattered, slumped over, tired, and overworked. This is with the exception of the only young barge hauler who is highlighted to distinguish him from the rest. Instead of downtrodden, this young man seems full of energy but uncomfortable, adjusting the strap that bears the weight of the boat behind him. The strap which connects him to those around him seems to be changing the flesh of his hands to the drab and muted color scheme of the rest of the crew. It is as if this labor is slowly changing him, indicated that his youthful glow is fading due to this extraordinary daily labor. Additionally, the young man is the only person with a cross around his neck, perhaps noting that his youthful faith is also something which is degrading.<\/p>\n
In the back-right corner of the painting, Repin includes a distant steam ship, a technology which will make the work of the Barge Haulers unnecessary. In contrast to the turmoil and suffering seen in the haulers, the steamboat becomes a complicated symbol. I am not quite sure what to make of its meaning: perhaps it points towards the how the suffering of these haulers who are pulling a ship with a Russian flag as unnecessary, critique Russia\u2019s late adoption of modern technology? Perhaps instead it is to show a lament to the loss of this kind of hard work which will be replaced by machines? Perhaps it is to show the hope for the next generation, for the young boy who is illuminated? Hopefully we can talk about this in discussion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Looking through the paintings that were assigned for class, I was drawn to Repin, who, similar to how Tolstoy is to written work, is often the one Russian painter that everyone knows. Again same as Tolstoy, I think this renowned praise is earned if not understated. Specifically, I gravitated to Repin\u2019s \u201cThe Barge Haulers on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":688,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-unit-8-russian-revival-social-critique"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/russian-2240-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/russian-2240-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/russian-2240-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/russian-2240-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/688"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/russian-2240-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/russian-2240-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/russian-2240-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/russian-2240-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/russian-2240-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}