October 16, 2021

A New Spin on an Old Painting


A New Spin on an Old Painting
Yes, they even made it a postage stamp in 1969! (Note the missing ship cut out of the image to emphasize the downtrodden workers.) Wouldn't a letter with this stamp in your mailbox just brighten your day? Wikimedia Commons user Kroton

Ilya Repin's famous Barge Haulers on the Volga (1870-1873; Russian Museum) was used as a convenient Soviet tool to show how the tsars had exploited the people. The desperate looks on the faces of downtrodden men literally dragging a ship with their bodies are haunting.

But the internet is awash with stories of the barge haulers having a much better life than Repin depicted. Think of it as a twenty-first-century effort to prove the Soviets wrong. These internet posts allege that nineteenth-century barge haulers earned a salary equal to that of a middle class doctor or teacher at a gimnaziya (advanced university-bound school). The haulers replaced their regular clothes with rags so as not to ruin their nice outfits. Their meals were provided, including black caviar, and many could buy land with their earnings quicker than men in many other industries could.

It is a nice story – of the kind the internet loves – but it does not add up. It turns out that "boatmen," as in the "Song of the Volga Boatmen," is too generous of a translation; "barge haulers" more accurately depicts what they really had to do.

A journalist correcting the internet myths explains that barge hauling was common, necessary, and not at all a unique form of exploitation invented by the tsars: "From time immemorial, up to the mass appearance of steamships in Europe, Russia, America, Asia, and Africa, loaded ships were pulled by people with ropes against the current. Less commonly, horses." In Russia, these haulers were peasants, mostly illiterate, and were fed something closer to rancid bread than black caviar. They surely were not buying their own land after hauling for a few years.

In Soviet schools, pupils repeated this verse: "Go out to the Volga, whose moan is heard / Over the great Russian river? / This moan is called a song / So the barge haulers are on the line!" That moan really was justified.

It turns out that a picture is worth a thousand words, and no further explanation is needed for Repin's masterpiece. The internet may dislike the extent to which Repin's giant painting was used as a propaganda instrument, but the Soviets were right about the grueling life of the unfortunate barge haulers. They were wrong, however, in citing it as a uniquely Imperial Russian problem.

You Might Also Like

Distorted Portrait of an Artist
  • July 01, 2014

Distorted Portrait of an Artist

Ilya Repin was one of Russia's most famous, prolific and talented artists. So why was he dismissed by some in the Soviet era?
Searching for St. Nicholas
  • January 01, 2021

Searching for St. Nicholas

A town on the Turkish coast preserves the memory of one of Russia’s most venerated saints.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

Little Golden Calf
February 01, 2010

Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

A Taste of Russia
November 01, 2012

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

At the Circus
January 01, 2013

At the Circus

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955