One of the most famous Russian artists, Ilya Efimovich Repin, remained in the memory of his descendants primarily with his large-scale historical canvases, equally talented created portraits, landscapes and paintings on gospel stories. Various phenomena of life, the wealth of folk types and characters reflected in his work and embodied in a kind of artistic annals of the era. Each of his portraits is sharply individual and endowed with those unique features that most fully revealed the essence and character of a person.
In the Penza Art Gallery named after K.A. Savitsky there are several graphic and pictorial works of the master. One of the key works of the collection is ‘Portrait of the Priest G.S. Petrov’; its second title is ‘Preacher’. Grigory Spiridonovich Petrov (1866-1925) was a contemporary of Ilya Repin, a fiery orator, publicist and public figure. The canvas was painted in the spring of 1908 in Penates, at the estate of the artist’s wife in the village of Kuokkala near St. Petersburg. In 1918, Kuokkala and the Repin family found themselves in Finland and remained there, not giving in to persuasion to return to their homeland.
On the pages of the liberal newspaper “Russian Word” Grigory Spiridonovich often spoke with the denunciation of the existing orders in the Russian Empire. In 1907, he was elected to the Second State Duma from the Constitutional Democratic Party and in the same year was excommunicated for his criticism of the metropolitan, anathematized, and expelled from the capital. His fame was comparable to the popularity of the artist. Postcards with his image and autograph were in great demand among the public, and his portrait was exhibited in the windows of art stores. G.S. Petrov’s book ‘Gospel as the basis of life’ was reprinted 20 times. In 1911, Grigory Petrov did lecturing in Penza.
The last years of his life, he spent in exile. In Serbia, he wrote the book ‘Finland, the Land of White Lilies’, which became bestseller of those years in several countries.
In the unfinished portrait of Grigory Petrov from 1908, Ilya Efimovich Repin accurately conveyed the passionate nature of the priest, his rebellious spirit and revealing mood. There is information that the portrait was painted in just two days; Grigory Petrov specially arrived in Penates to pose for the artist.
