The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Portrait of a Boy

Ilia Efimovich Repin (Russian, Chuguev 1844–1930 Kuokkala)

Date:: 1884
Medium:: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:: 22 1/2 x 17 3/8 in. (57.2 x 44.1 cm)
Classification:: Paintings
Credit Line:: Gift of Humanities Fund Inc., 1972
Accession Number:: 1972.145.1

This artwork is not on display

Gallery Label

The sitter in this Russian realist portrait has not been identified. It was painted in the same year as Repin's portrait of "Garshin" (1972.145.2). The boy's pensive pose resembles the attitude of a boy called Matveyev who Repin painted in 1881 (Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow). These early portraits are straightforward, sober statements that rival the work of contemporary realists in France.
Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscription: Signed and dated (right, in Russian): I. Repin / 1884/x/15
Provenance

Boris A. Bakhmeteff, New York (probably 1930s or earlier–d. 1951); Humanities Fund Inc., New York (1951–72)
Exhibition History

Moscow. State Tretyakov Gallery. "Ilia Efimovich Repin, 1844–1930: In Commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of His Birth," October 7–December 15, 1994, not in catalogue.

St. Petersburg. State Russian Museum. "Ilia Efimovich Repin, 1844–1930: In Commemoration of the 150th Anniversay of His Birth," February 20–May 15, 1995, not in catalogue.
References

Vitale Manin. Letter. received March 8, 1977, based on a photograph, states that this painting seems to be unquestionably original and interesting, although nothing is known about it and it is not recorded in the Repin literature.
See also
Who
Ilia Efimovich Repin (3)
What
Paintings (12,453)

Canvas (4,585)

Oil paint (2,022)
Where
Asia (68,122)

Russia (1,697)
When
A.D. 1800-1900 (80,493)
In the Museum
European Paintings (2,526)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Anatolia and the Caucasus, 1800–1900 A.D.

Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, 1800–1900 A.D.

Central and North Asia, 1800–1900 A.D.
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