Painting by Repin “Portrait of Tretyakov” Description

Tretyakov's portrait is strikingly plain and deep. We see the founder of the gallery of Russian painting, a successful entrepreneur, philanthropist, a wonderful person. Repin perfectly managed to convey the deep and complex character of his hero. A high forehead, sad dark eyes, a perfectly flat nose, a well-groomed beard... We see a philosopher rather than an entrepreneur. The picture completes with a thin, nervous hand with a wedding ring on the ring finger, a detail that can tell more about a person than an extensive monograph. The same applies to the pose in which Tretyakov is depicted. A modest person who tries to take up as little space as possible, yielding to his paintings.

Tretyakov was depicted among the paintings of his gallery. Without his collection of Russian painting, he himself does not seem to exist. It is known that the last words of Tretyakov before his death were the words about the need to protect the collection. The work of his whole life became a part of himself, the meaning of the very life of the great Russian philanthropist.