Lot 138: YURI IL'ICH REPIN

YURI IL'ICH REPIN 1877-1954 PORTRAIT OF NADEZDHA REPINA signed in Cyrillic and dated 1896 t.l.; inscribed Emantsipantka / prinadlezhit I.E.R in Cyrillic on the reverse oil on canvas 64.5 by 82cm., 25 1/4 by 32 1/4 in.

Yury Repin was nineteen years old when he painted this portrait of his elder sister in her usual attire. The reverse is intentionally inscribed Emantsipantka, a term common in Russia at that time to denote an independent woman who, in her lifestyle, dress and behaviour, spurned all accepted norms and asserted her rights.



Nadezhda Ilinichna (1874-1931), the second of Ilya Repin's four children, expressed her liberal outlook on life early on, which, in private, manifested itself in her desire to wear men's clothing. At the time Nadia was studying medicine, which seems to have encouraged her unorthodox behaviour.



Following a visit to Repin's house A.V.Zhirkevich wrote in his diary: 'Nadya goes about dressed as a country boy, sometimes barefoot (with her hair cut short)'



In 1892 Repin purchased an estate not far from Vitebsk, where the family spent their summers indulging in their favourite pastimes. Nadezhda and Yury bought pipes and enjoyed hunting, spending whole days wandering the surrounding land armed with rifles. Ilya Repin painted a portrait of his daughter in male hunting clothes and her shorn locks covered with a cap (The Hunter. N.I.Repina with a rifle, 1892). Before exhibiting the work, however, Repin chose to repaint her trousers into a skirt so as not to rouse unsolicited curiosity in the viewer.



Several years later, Nadya left home to work in at the transit points in Siberia and Repin said of his daughter that she was a 'heroic being'. In later life, Nadya would return to a more traditional lifestyle and let her hair grow long.



The offered lot is testament to the skill and artistic talent of the young Yury Repin, and in the sensitive portrayal of his sister deep in thought, underscores his great sense of respect for Nadya and her chosen way of life.



We are grateful to Elena Kirillina, Director of the Repin Memorial Museum at Penates for writing this note.