General in the form of royal guards. P.A. Cherevin. 1885

Ilya Repin made this oil on canvas painting, “General in the Form of Royal Guards. P.A. Cherevin,” in 1885. It’s a portrait, but not quite in the traditional sense. The formal attire of the subject is so emphatically rendered, one might say that the uniform is the subject. What does this tell us about the social role of portraiture in late 19th-century Russia? Certainly, it speaks to the importance of military rank in the Czarist era. Repin himself was interested in social reform and the lives of ordinary people. So, is this a celebration of military power, or perhaps something more critical? To better understand, we might consider the role of the Tretyakov Gallery itself, as a space dedicated to Russian art. How did this relatively new institution shape the production and reception of art? Examining archival documents and exhibition histories can give us insight into the complex relationship between art, power, and society.