Painter, graphic artist, produced etchings and lithographs. He was active in genre and historical painting, produced portraits and religious paintings. Born to a family of a military settler. His painting studies began with the local icon painter and at the topography school where he was taught by artists I.M.Bunakov and L.I.Persanov. In 1863 he studied at the School of Drawing of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists under R.K.Zhukovsky and I.N.Kramskoy, from 1864-1871 – at the Academy of Arts. In 1869 he won the small gold medal for the painting entitled "Job and his Friends" (1869), and in 1871 – the big gold medal and a first art degree for his painting entitled "The Raising of Jairus’ Daughter" (1871). From 1873-1876 he receives a pension (scholarship) from the Academy of Arts in Italy and France. Later he lived in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In 1876 his "Sadko" painting (1876) won him membership at the Academy. In 1892 he was promoted to professor at the Academy of Arts where he was in charge of a studio (until 1907). He taught at the studio school of M.K.Tenisheva. From 1878 he was a member of the STAE, the Moscow Society of Art Lovers, the A.I.Kuinji society and the honourable chairman of the Community of Artists. When I.E.Repin studied at the Academy of Arts, he was aligned to representatives of leading students and was fascinated by the ideas of N.G.Chernyshevsky. His teacher I.N.Kramskoy introduced him to the Peredvizhniki. He attended the famous "Thursdays" of the Artists' Cooperative. Repin’s early creative experiments revealed his multifarious interests. He was fascinated by religious themes which he treated in a psychological way rather than in the spirit of abstract exultation. He preferred social themes regarding them as the worthiest ones for art. Even during his study trip abroad, he became acquainted with the ideas of European artists, but remained indifferent to their creations. From the late 1870s – early 1880s the dominating themes in his work were condemnation of the ruling elite in Russian society and revolutionary struggle ("Arrest of the Propagandist", 1878; "They did not Wait", 1884-1888). In parallel he creates a number of remarkable portraits of Russian intellectuals (Portrait of M.P.Mussorgsky, 1881) and historical paintings (Tsarina Sofia a Year After Imprisonment at the Novodevichy Monastery during the Execution of the Streltsy and the Torture of All Her Servants in 1698, 1879; Ivan the Terrible and His Son on 16 November 1581, 1885). In 1891 Repin unexpectedly changed his views, stopped working with V.V.Stasov and withdrew his membership to the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions. The artist declared the principle of "pure aesthetism, of art for art’s sake", returned to the Academy of Arts and was its Rector from 1898-1899. It is at this time that he produced his famous graphic picture "Portrait of Italian Drama Actress Eleanor Duze", 1891. However, despite his changing opinions, Repin formed his creative maxim in the 1860s: "I am a man of the 1860s […] I strive to embody my ideas in truth, I am too excited by the life around me".