Born into the family of a military settler
His father, Yefim Repin, and his older brother drove horses. Repin's mother, Tatyana Bocharova, opened a small rural school where her own children, together with the peasants' children, learned penmanship, arithmetic, and the Law of God.
Showed an early talent for drawing
One day Trofim Chaplygin, Repin's cousin, gave the boy a set of watercolor paints and a brush. From then on Repin was never without paints and taught himself the basics of art.
At 15 he became an assistant to icon painter Ivan Bunakov
At 16 he joined a cooperative of itinerant icon painters and surpassed his teacher in skill; he later spoke warmly of him: 'My teacher, Ivan Mikhailovich Bunakov, was an excellent portraitist, he was a very talented painter.'
He was admitted to the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts on his second attempt
Having failed the entrance exams, Repin, on the advice of his landlord the architect Petrov, enrolled in the preparatory drawing school of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. A year later he was able to enter the Academy of Arts as an auditor. During his studies Repin met and befriended members of the creative elite of his time – the artists Ivan Kramskoi and Vasily Polenov, and the critic Vladimir Stasov.
He was a master of portraits, genre scenes, and historical canvases
Throughout his life Repin tried to unite three great ideals in his painting: truth, goodness, and beauty. He repeatedly painted works for the imperial court and on personal commissions from Alexander III. The most significant works are in the collections of the Tretyakov Gallery and the Russian Museum. Among them: 'Barge Haulers on the Volga', 'Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan', 'They Did Not Expect', and others.
He was a vegetarian and slept with the windows open year-round
Repin's second wife, Natalia Borisovna Nordman, promoted a healthy lifestyle and, in particular, vegetarianism. At the famous 'Wednesdays' held at the artist's Penates estate, guests often secretly brought meat dishes. Repin also believed that sleeping in the open air strengthened health: he and his household slept with the windows wide open even in severe frost.
The artist's household fundamentally refused to keep permanent servants
There were servants in the family, but they came on strictly defined days and hours and had days off. Posters were hung throughout the Repin household asking guests to serve themselves. For that time this was very unusual.
He could paint with both hands
In his old age Repin developed atrophy of the muscles of his right arm. He learned to paint with his left hand and invented a special hanging palette that was strapped to his waist.
Repin was not allowed into the Tretyakov Gallery
Because of a perfectionism common to many artists, Repin had the habit of repainting details of his paintings and changing color solutions. Having learned of Ilya Yefimovich's direct behavior, Pavel Tretyakov forbade Repin from entering the gallery if he had paints with him. Over time the conflict was resolved.
He bequeathed the Penates estate to the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts
When Repin sensed his death was near, he obtained a special permit from Finland to be buried outside an official cemetery and personally chose the site of his future grave near the Gulf of Finland. He also bequeathed his Penates estate to the Academy of Arts. The estate now houses a museum which exhibits more than 600 works of painting and graphic art.
