GOPAK. DANCE OF THE ZAPOROGUES COSSACKS, 1926-1930 (oil on linoleum)

1926-1930//Oil on linoleum Répine undertook this final painting at the age of eighty-two, under very difficult conditions. Unable to buy canvas anymore, he painted it, like Golgotha, on a poor material: linoleum. As early as 1926, he was thinking of creating a monumental composition inspired by the Cossack dances and songs of his youth. The “gopak” is a disheveled dance that the artist renders here by a burst of colors and a very free technique. The laughter of the characters, their vital energy surprise under the brush of the octogenarian painter. Produced in memory of the composer Modest Mussorgsky, the work was offered by Repin to his daughter Vera.