In 1868, Ilya Repin while being a student at the Academy of Fine Arts, for the first time saw barge haulers on the Neva River. The word burlaks, or barge haulers, meant hired workers who in the seasons of big water pulled vessels with a string against the flow. The young artist was shocked by the sight of these people harnessed to the strap — dirty, ragged and in stark contrast with the elegant audience.

At that time, Repin, like all academists, painted mostly on biblical topics. But the sight of barge haulers impressed him so much that he decided to create a monumental canvas about modern life of the Russian people. Thus, a new era in the Russian art history — the era of realism — began.

The painter went to the Volga to learn more about barge haulers' work. In the region of Samara, he was making acquaintances with barge haulers, questioning them during the hours of rest, and during the work time he was marching close by and making sketches.

In this way, the characters of the future canvas were emerging. The favorite hero of Repin himself is Kanin, a former priest, — a big shot, meaning the most experienced worker who is walking at the head. Evil Ilka the Sailor looks directly into the eyes of the audience. A young recalcitrant guy Larka is in a tattered shirt. A pipe smoker indifferent to the outside world.

However, the author did not seek to arouse pity and sympathy for the barge haulers or to condemn the modern state of things. He focused on these people’s personalities per se. Repin endowed each of the eleven protagonists with his own character, inner world.

In 1873, Barge Haulers were presented at the exhibition in St. Petersburg. The painting provoked conflicting reactions. From the viewpoint of academists, art had to be eternal, not reflecting the social signs of the time. Already elderly and very respected artist Fedor Bruni called the painting the greatest profanation of art.

The realistic picture contrasted especially strongly with the academic painting Sinner by Henryk Semiradsky. Audience and critics even formed two camps: of Repin’s and Semiradsky’s admirers.

During the World Exhibition in Vienna, the Russian minister of Transportation was outraged by the fact that before the painting was created steamboats had already been widely used. In the age of progress and machine labour, barge haulers' labor was demonstrated to the international audience.