Portrait of Tretyakov, Repin, 1883 
- Posted by Ilya Efimovich Repin
- Museum: Tretyakov Gallery
- Year: 1883
Overview of the painting :
Portrait of Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov – Ilya Efimovich Repin. 1883. Oil on canvas. 98×75.8
Tretyakov’s portrait is amazingly simple and deep. Before us is the founder of the gallery of Russian painting, a successful entrepreneur, philanthropist, a wonderful person. Repin was excellent in transmitting the deep and complex nature of his hero. Tall forehead, sad dark eyes, perfectly even nose, well-groomed beard… Before us is more a philosopher-thinker than an entrepreneur. The picture is completed by a thin, nervous hand with a wedding ring on an unnamed finger, a detail that can tell more about a person than an extensive monograph. You can also say about the pose in which the Tretyakov is depicted. A humble person trying to take as little space as possible, yielding to his paintings.
Tretyakov is depicted among the paintings of his gallery. Without his collection of Russian painting, he himself does not exist. It is known that the last words of Tretyakov before his death were words about the need to protect the collection. The work of his whole life has become part of himself, the meaning of the very life of the great Russian patron.