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''Barge Haulers on the Volga'' or ''Burlaki'' (Russian: ''Burlaki na Volge'', Бурлаки на Волге) is an 1870–1873 oil-on-canvas painting by the Russian realist painter and sculptor Ilya Repin. The work depicts 11 laboring men dragging a barge on the Volga River. The men seem to almost collapse forward in exhaustion under the burden of hauling a large boat upstream in heavy, hot weather.〔Frank, Joseph. "Dostoevsky: The Mantle of the Prophet, 1871–1881". Princeton University Press, 2003. 111. ISBN 0-691-11569-9〕〔Not long after Repin's painting, burlakis were replaced by steam powered tug-boats〕 The work is both a celebration of the men's dignity and fortitude, and a highly emotional condemnation of those who sanctioned such inhumane labor.〔Gray, Rosalind Polly & Blakesley, Rosalind Polly. ''Russian genre painting in the nineteenth century''. Alderley: Clarendon Press, 2000. ix. ISBN 0-19-820875-8〕 Although they are presented as stoical and accepting, the men are largely defeated; only one stands out: in the center of both the row and canvas, a brightly colored youth fights against his leather binds and takes on a heroic poise. Repin conceived the painting during his travels through Russia as a young man and depicts actual characters he encountered. It drew international praise for its realistic portrayal of the hardships of working men, and launched his career.〔Hilton, Alison. "The Exhibition of Experiments in St. Petersburg and the Independent Sketch". ''The Art Bulletin'', Volume 70, No. 4, December, 1988. 677–698〕 Soon after its completion, the painting was purchased by Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich and exhibited widely throughout Europe as a landmark of Russian realist painting. ''Barge Haulers on the Volga'' has been described as "perhaps the most famous painting of the Peredvizhniki movement ()....its unflinching portrayal of backbreaking labor".〔"(Ilya Repin, Barge-Haulers on the Volga (1870–73) )". The Museum of Russian Art. Retrieved 18 January 2010.〕 ==Background== Repin was accepted into the Imperial Academy of Art in St. Petersburg in 1863. The academy at the time was known for its deep conservatism and leaning towards academic art, a fact that bred a sense of revolt and desire for change in many of its students.〔 ''Barge Haulers'' is inspired by scenes witnessed by the artist while holidaying on the Volga in 1870. He made a number of preparatory studies, mostly in oil, while staying in Shiriaev Buerak, near Stavropol (Stavropol-na-Volge).〔King, Averil. "(Russia's soul in paint: Averil King welcomes a well-illustrated account of Ilya Repin's powerful, virtuoso art )". ''Apollo'', October 2007. Retrieved on 27 February 2010.〕〔"(Study of a Barge Hauler for the painting 'The Barge Haulers on the Volga' 1870–1873 )". Christie's, November 1997. Retrieved on 27 February 2010.〕 The sketches include landscapes, and views of the Volga and barge haulers. The characters depicted are based on actual people whom the artist came to know while preparing the work. He had had difficulty finding subjects to pose for him, even for a fee, because of a folklorish belief that a subject's soul would leave his possession once his image was put down on paper.〔Emerson, Caryl. ''The life of Musorgsky''. In: "Musical lives". ''Cambridge University Press'', 1999. 127. ISBN 0-521-48507-X〕 The subjects include a former soldier, a former priest, and a painter.〔 Although Repin depicted eleven men, women also performed the work and there were normally many more people in a barge-hauling gang; Repin selected these figures as representative of a broad swathe of the working classes of Russian society. That some had once held relatively high social positions dismayed the young artist, who had initially planned to produce a far more superficial work contrasting exuberant day-trippers (which he himself had been) with the careworn burlaks. Repin found a particular empathy with Kanin, the defrocked priest, who is portrayed as the lead hauler and looks outwards towards the viewer.〔 The artist wrote, :"There was something eastern about it, the face of a Scyth...and what eyes! What depth of vision!...And his brow, so large and wise...He seemed to me a colossal mystery, and for that reason I loved him. Kanin, with a rag around his head, his head in patches made by himself and then worn out, appeared none the less as a man of dignity; he was like a saint."〔Amery, Colin & Curran, Brian. "St Petersburg". Frances Lincoln, 2006. 134. ISBN 0-7112-2492-7〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Barge Haulers on the Volga」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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