He created a narrative type of image, close to the traditions of old European masters. Six years later, Repin painted another portrait of his older friend. In June 1882, he visited Bogolyubov when he was sick. The friends discussed organisational issues of the Russian artists’ congress which was scheduled for early September, exhibitions of the Itinerants in Paris, construction of the Radishchev Museum in Saratov. As evidenced by Alexey Petrovich Bogolyubov himself, this portrait was painted in his Moscow studio during one three-hour session. This is what he wrote about it a few days later in his letter to artist Kramskoy: “Repin visited me and stayed overnight yesterday. He wanted to redo the head in my portrait. We took it off the wall, looked at it and decided that after making the background quieter, it”d better be left unchanged as it depicts the doleful period of my life. With a wilful stroke, in just one day, he painted my old head so that I had an unrivalled imprint in a very quiet pose…” 

Unlike in the first portrait, the artist does not attract the viewer’s attention to the surrounding setting. Here the focus is on the model’s face. Having just outlined the background, the artist focuses on Bogolyubov’s expressive profile. Combed back dark greying hair opens up the face with a darkish complexion, high forehead and deep concentrated look in which wisdom, dignity, great spiritual and worldly experience of a teacher are read. The portrait conveys the artist’s personal attachment to and respect for his model. Compared to his earlier portrait of Bogolyubov, the brilliant mastery and depth of revealing the character in this work refer it to the best portraits created by Repin when he had matured as an artist.