Lines and Colors art blog

Eye Candy for Today: Ilya Repin’s Sadko

Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom, Ilya Repin
Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom, Ilya Repin.

Link is to large image on Wikimedia Commons. Original is in the State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg. Sadko is a medieval Russian epic.

[Note: full size version might be considered mildly NSFW.]


Comments

4 responses to “Eye Candy for Today: Ilya Repin’s Sadko”

  1. Sadko gives such an intriguing glimpse of what Repin might have accomplished had he further pursued fantasy and mythology. But his times weren’t conducive, nor were critics like Stasov, who discouraged such dream images. We can be grateful for all the great realist works Repin produced after Sadko, but I always wonder what would have issued from his brush had he headed farther down this path.

    1. Thanks, James. I wondered what had dissuaded Repin from pursuing more works in this vein. Unfortunate the he didn’t continue in both genres.

  2. What a jewel! I literally gasped when this came up on my screen! Sadly, this is the first I have heard of Repin, but I am going to check your previous post now and keep an eye out for more of his work! Thank you so much for “introducing” me to him!

    1. Unfortunately, as James Gurney mentions above, most of Repin’s work is quite different from this. Fortunately, however, it is equally beautiful.