Focus on Barge Haulers on the Volga and explore the Description.
Barge Haulers on the Volga shows a row of eleven male burlaks dragging a barge on the Volga River that must be pulled upstream against the current. The men are dressed in rags and bound with leather harnesses. They are rendered as mostly stoical, although in obvious physical discomfort, with their bodies bowed in toil. The scene is rendered in a white, silvery light which has been described as "almost Venetian". In earlier studies, it was dominated by blue tones.
The men appear to be unsupervised and form the focus of the picture, with the barge relegated to a minor role at the rear of the frame. Further in the distance is a tiny steam-powered boat, perhaps a suggestion that the back-breaking labor of the barge haulers is no longer necessary in the industrial age. Also worthy of note is the inverted Russian flag flying from the main mast of the barge, adding to the sense of hostile unease. Repin echoes the stop-go rhythm of the labor in the undulating line of the workers' heads.  In the preparatory studies, many of the figures were positioned differently; for example the second man was shown wearing a cap with his head bowed into his chest.
There is a general sense of mounting exhaustion and despair moving from left to right among the group; the last hauler seems oblivious to his surroundings and drifts from the line out towards the viewer. The exception is a fair-haired boy in the center of the group. Set brightly against the uniform muted tones of his companions, he stands straighter; his head is raised looking into the distance, while he pulls against his straps as if determined to free himself from his task.
Repin grew up in Chuguev, in the Kharkov Governorate (now Ukraine) and was aware of the poverty and hardship of most rural life at that time. He spent two years traveling, during which time he observed both the dachas of the rich and the toil of the common peasant. As such the painting can be considered a genre work, but treated on the heroic scale of history painting, as was often the case in 19th-century works, especially after A Burial At Ornans by Gustave Courbet (1850).  Barge Haulers drew direct comparisons from critics with Millet's works and Courbet's The Stone Breakers (also 1850), which showed laborers at the side of a road.The painting is a relentlessly physical description of the men; Repin was attracted by their strength and superhuman effort. According to critic Vladimir Stassov, "They are like a group of forest Hercules with their disheveled heads, their sun-tanned chests, and their motionlessly hanging, strong-veined hands. What glances from untamed eyes, what distended nostrils, what iron muscles!" In his description of their heavy brows and the lined foreheads, Repin does not neglect their spiritual torment; although he does not concentrate too much on any single man's personal intimate emotions. Any sense of personal hardship is of secondary importance to the portrayal of effort and human dignity.
Chuguev Volga River Gustave Courbet Kharkov Governorate dacha genre work Millet right Volga history painting barge Vladimir Stassov Barge The Stone Breakers burlak left Ukraine A Burial At Ornans