Paris, France
Social realism: The rise of the Peredvizhniki
The 19th century was marked by growing social awareness in Russia, as a response to the stark inequalities between the noble classes and the common people. It was in this context that a group of artists known as the Peredvizhniki (or “Wanderers”) emerged.
They rejected the rigid norms of the Academy of Arts, choosing instead to focus on realistic subjects that highlighted the daily lives of peasants and workers.
Ilya Repin, one of the leading figures of this movement, created the monumental work Barge Haulers on the Volga between 1870 and 1873. This painting depicts exhausted laborers dragging barges along the Volga River.
More than a simple scene of work, it is a cry of protest against social injustice and the oppression of the most disadvantaged. Through powerful realism, Repin gives a voice to rural Russia, a world often overlooked by the elite.
Other artists, like Isaac Levitan, turned to nature to express equally profound emotions. In works such as Above Eternal Peace (1894), Levitan captures landscapes that embody melancholy and solitude. His paintings seem to reflect the soul of the Russian people, grounded in silent contemplation.