Ilya Repin
Old Man and Raven, 1885

Artist
Ilya Repin

Title
Old Man and Raven

Year of creation
1885

Technique and dimensions
oil on cardboard, 17 x 22 cm

Year of acquisition
2013

The painting style of this study by Ilja Repin shows an immediate brushwork, it is fluid and witty, clearly characterizing the motif with just a few strokes. With limited resources, it depicts an old scholar who has fallen asleep and slumped forward in a wing chair, still holding the open book in his sunken left hand. On the table in front of him sits a bird, perhaps a raven. He bends over a bowl that probably contains ink or sand. If this is not based on a literary source, which would be quite conceivable, the raven can also be understood as a messenger of death and eternity. This element creates a narrative structure in a small space - but only at second glance. In the same year, Repin painted the portrait of old Dmitri I Mendeleyev.

The great appeal of the study is the strong atmospheric impression, conveyed by the diffuse, rich play of light and shadow in a small space, made up of color gradations of light gray and brown, sometimes with shades of red.

Philipp Demandt