Repin Museum in Chuguev

There is hardly a person in the world who has not heard about the great artist Ilya Repin. However, few people know that the future artist was born in Ukraine, in the small town of Chuguev, Kharkov region. In 1969, Repin Memorial Museum of Art, including "Repin Prize Laureates" gallery and Local History Department was opened here.

The Museum is located on the former Nikitinskaya Street, where the artist with his family was staying with his parents from October 1876 to September 1897. A little white house with a paved patio still keeps the inspiration with which Ilya Efimovich had worked in the wing. Traditional Ukrainian fence covered in summer with "Panych" (a kind of popular in Ukraine flowers), decorative beans, blooming peonies, mallows and marigolds in orchard and under the window – everything is preserved, as if shifted from old times.

Atmosphere, typical for the times, when lived the painter, whose life was concerned with Ukraine, was recreated in living room. And thank to local artists and icon painters, Repin has developed his own outlook and taste. We can trace this through the works of local artists of the second half of the XIX century. But Ilya Efimovich was not an ordinary imitator, bringing got knowledge into his discoveries, which made him famous all over the world. This is evident when one compares his mentors’ works with the works of the painter, which are also kept in the museum. First of all these are four copies of the early icons, as well as more recent works, painted by Repin - etchings, portrait of Verevkina and drawings. Meanwhile, the Foundation also houses the works of artist's colleagues, members of his entourage – I. Pelevin, M. Pimonenko, P. Vereshchagin, V. Serov.

The studio was re-opened in 1989, to the brush master’s 145th anniversary. Destroyed during the Second World War, it was restored by documents found in archives of Kiev. This is where the painter worked, when came home. The artist and his sitters rested after hours of work in a small room. And summer evenings they spent on the veranda near the samovar with a cup of strong tea. There they were not only enjoying sounds of nature, but also thinking about their creative plans. The portraits of artist's wife Vera Alekseevna, of a classmate at the Academy of Fine Arts, N. Murashko, were painted in the studio. Sketches and first drafts of the world famous painting "Crucession in Kursk Province" were also made there.

There is a harmonium - an old and acting musical instrument in the most spacious room of the house. A shawl thrown on the couch and a bottle of perfume standing at the mirror, powder, gloves, all this indicates that the house was visited by his wife Vera Alekseevna. And as if it was not several centuries ago, but just a few hours ago. And soon the owners will return home to do their usual things - Repin – to paint, and his young wife – to inspire and support him throughout.