Portrait of the writer A.F. Pisemsky Ilya Repin (1844-1930)

Description of Ilya Repin’s Portrait of Pisemsky

It is known that Repin turned to the genre of portraiture an incredible number of times during his career. And most interestingly, each of them was invariably crowned with success. Poor or rich, old or young, each person looks in its own original and unique. Repin knew how to display in a portrait that individual trait, which would distinguish the painting from a number of others. And that feature was not always appearance.

This canvas was created in 1880 and for many years now is in the State Tretyakov Gallery. Dimensions of the picture reaches just over 60 cm in width by 90 centimeters in height. In many of his canvases the artist depicts a man at the waist, so that the face, shoulders and chest looked the most expressive. The same principle followed Repin and in this case, but that’s just the body is hidden under a large jacket of gray. The writer, which painted Repin, sitting on a chair and leaning his hands on a cane. Many art historians say that the image can not be called an ordinary portrait, as it is accustomed to consider.

Repin very accurately convey the character of his client. He drew every feature, every wrinkle so technically, that many of Pisemsky’s friends were struck by the mystical resemblance to the original. There is a feeling that Pisemsky looks at us not from a meter-long canvas, but from an ordinary enlarged photograph. Except that the cameras did not yet have their future glory. The painting breathes with life and Pismsky is about to rise from his chair and begin to stroll around the room. This liveliness is in some way conveyed by the unusual facial expression of the hero: raised eyebrow, surprised face, a slight, almost imperceptible smile at the corners of the lips.