Ilya Yefimovich Repin was a Russian realist painter. He was the most renowned Russian artist of the 19th century, when his position in the world of art was comparable to that of Leo Tolstoy in literature. I visited the Penaty Estate/museum with Lisa in 2009, on a sunny day in June, it's a 45 minute train ride and a short walk from the station. The museum is interesting and the gardens lovely and very peaceful, neither Lisa or I are particularly taken with his paintings, but he led an interesting life, and was involved in a group of artists known as the Itinerants. A funny little tale (to me anyway) about our visit was on arriving the babushka in the ticket office wasn't selling tickets for the next tour, and she said there may not be any more tours that day, much to the annoyance of a large group of Russian's waiting there. Lisa never takes no for an answer and said she had come with an Englishman especially to see the museum, and this was creating a terrible impression to a visiting foreigner, which got an immediate response, so the ticket booth was opened and tickets were issued. The babushka then announced that the tour would be in English, much to the dismay of most of the Russians in the group who didn't understand English. As we went around all the audio descriptions were in English as was the guide. I felt embarrassed really, but at least I enjoyed all the tour a lot more. A few photo's of the house and gardens. Repin's grave in the grounds Repin's Studio
Terry, on the subject of artists, I was wondering whether you had come across Christina Robertson and her work. She was a painter at the Russian court in the mid-19th century and quite a number of her works are displayed at The Hermitage. I didn't know much about her - I knew she was Scottish, but nothing much else. I did a bit of research and discovered, to my astonishment, that she hailed from a village in Fife about three miles from where I live. I wrote an article about her for the local newsletter and none of the people involved with it had even heard of her!
No Tom neither of us have come across her, though the Hermitage is pretty vast. I looked her up and see she as you say born near you, and died here in St.Petersburg. She had an interesting life by all accounts, thanks for introducing her.. We may go to the Hermitage in December, the first Thursday of the month is free entry, so being cheapskates we often go then, will look out for her paintings if we go.
All of her work is portraits of Russian nobility but I was intrigued because of her origins and the fact that it was unusual for women to be artists at that time (perhaps still is).
Yes I looked at some of her work, it's not my area of interest but I thought her paintings were good, and she was quite a woman to have got that far in those times, and as you say probably even today.
@Terry Page, your wife is surely smart with that ticketing booth. And is that you who posed as an Englishman? At least you got a tour on that day instead of going back another day. But I feel sorry for the Russians who felt alienated by the English-speaking tour guide. I'm not fond of visual arts and I like the vista shots better than the paintings, the brook in the forest looks like a painting anyway. The pictures of the trees are always nice to look at, very refreshing and the surroundings are spic and span.