"Bargehaulers on the Volga" by Ilya Repin (1870-1873) and "Give to Heavy Industry" by Yuri Pimenov (1926)

Ilya Repin’s “Bargehaulers on the Volga” (1870-1873), seen above, served as a model painting that inspired later works. Repin was considered Russia’s most loved artist or as Elizabeth Valkenier, a professor of art history and archaeology at Columbia University, referred to him, “a hallowed symbol of national art,”1. Along with his realist band of artists, Repin helped establish an official Russian art at a time when Russians were searching for a distinct artistic identity. Despite his claim that he painted exactly what he saw, Repin’s piece “Bargehaulers on the Volga” proved to be a controversial painting that catapulted the artist into a national conversation concerning the fate of Russia. According to Valkenier, “hardly anybody commented on its interesting diagonal composition, or its attempt to render the effects of light,”1. Instead, viewers tended to focus on the political interpretations of the prodigy’s painting. Overall, “Bargehaulers on the Volga” conveys hopelessness, desperation, and the extent of human misery experienced by members of the lower class. The most prominent figure in this image is the youthful individual in the center of the painting. This younger man is wearing a cross around his neck, appears to be displaying a Christian stigmata, and is lifting the belt off of his body. He is a Christ-like, youthful presence rising up in rebellion as the savior of the piece, and represents the hope for an improved future. Due to its contentious subject matter “Bargehaulers on the Volga” was a renowned, popularly discussed work of art.

As a result, this negative depiction of the state of Russia served as a model for Yuri Pimenov’s piece “Give to Heavy Industry” (1926), seen to the right. “Give to Heavy Industry” uses the image of “Bargehaulers on the Volga” in a modern factory setting. Instead of pulling a barge forward, the factory workers are consumed by a fire as they pull machinery. According to Karen A. McCauley, a professor at UCLA , “Give to Heavy Industry,” “depicts the struggle of industrialization using the device of montage to create a style and thematics distinctly reminiscent of constructivist and productionist art,”2. Pimenov relied on a modernist visual language and Repin’s well-known artistic masterpiece to enter a new, socially relevant conversation concerning the state of Russia in the 1900’s. In “Give to Heavy Industry” the individuals are expressionless and uniform in appearance. There is no Christ-like figure representing hope for a brighter future; as a result, Pimenov’s work conveys a sense of anguish and despondency. “Give to Heavy Industry” is modern, dark, and representative of Marxist estrangement and a sort of Stalinist Hell. This dissatisfaction with the state of Russian society is effectively expressed to viewers by applying Repin’s late 1800’s painting “Bargehauler’s on the Volga”, associated with human misery, to a new social context.


1. Valkenier, Elizabeth. 1978. Politics in Russian Art: The Case of Repin. Russian Review. 37 January
2. McCauley, Karen A. 1998. Production literature and the industrial imagination. The Slavic and East European Journal. 42 (3): 444-466.