In the room, which was both a study and a bedroom for Sergey Sergeyev-Tsensky, a reproduction of Ilya Repin’s self-portrait hangs above the writer’s bed.
The artist painted this self-portrait in Florence in 1887. In one of his letters written around that time, Ilya Repin confessed to the artist Pavel Chistyakov,
Reproduction of Ilya Repin’s self-portrait
Creation period
after 1950
Place of сreation
the USSR
Dimensions
30x25 cm
Technique
paper, chromolithography
Collection
0
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#4
I travel all by myself, and, you know, I love it; it feels so good: no one bothers me, I have enough time for everything, I do not argue with anyone and just enjoy myself as much as I can; this way, the impressions become deeper.
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It is fitting that the date of the self-portrait coincides with the year when Sergeyev-Tsensky first saw Repin’s works at an exhibition of the Itinerants in Tambov.
The artist and the writer met in 1909, when Korney Chukovsky suggested that Sergeyev-Tsensky come to live in Finland, in the summer village Kuokkala (now known as Repino, Leningrad Oblast). Sergeyev-Tsensky settled in the Kozinochka summer house where he worked on his prose poem “Movements”. He visited Repin’s dacha called the Penates and attended the famous Repin Wednesday soirées. Their acquaintance grew into a deep and sincere friendship, which lasted until the great artist died.
Sergeyev-Tsensky was always honest with Repin and was not afraid to criticize him when he deemed it necessary. In 1913, the artist got caught up in a dramatic situation: a man named Balashov slashed his painting “Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan on November 16, 1581”. The artist was then accused of employing excessive cruelty and “bloody” naturalism. That same year, to show his support for Repin, Sergeyev-Tsensky dedicated to him the sixth volume of his collected works, including the short novel “Little Bear” — that was the only dedication in the writer’s entire career. After receiving the book, Ilya Repin sent Sergeyev-Tsensky a letter of gratitude, in which he wrote, #6
What a marvelous pleasure your book has given me! I am reading it and I hope it never ends. What an amazing skill of yours — being so interesting!!!
#7
In 1926, Sergeyev-Tsensky asked Repin to send him one of his works as something to remember him by, and the great artist chose “Cossack Playing the Bandura” — one of the many studies he created for the painting “Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks”.
#3
Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation
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Reproduction of Ilya Repin’s self-portrait
Creation period
after 1950
Place of сreation
the USSR
Dimensions
30x25 cm
Technique
paper, chromolithography
Collection
0
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