Artist Repin Museum in Shyriaevo

In the village of Shiryaevo there is a Museum of the artist Repin. It is located in the house where the artist lived for several summer months in 1870, and began painting "Barge Haulers on the Volga river", which is now stored in the Russian Museum of St. Petersburg. 

Together with Ilya Repin, his brother Vasily lived in this house, as well as his artist friends, Yevgeny Makarov and Fyodor Vasiliev. The interior of the house is preserved as it was at the beginning of the last century. 

Repin studied at the Academy of Fine Arts for 8 years from 1863 to 1871. As a student at the Academy, he became interested in the hard work of Barge Haulers when he first saw them on the Neva river in 1869. A year before graduation, he went with friends to the Volga river to see the real Barge Haulers artels, get acquainted with their life. While vacationing on the Volga, they drew many sketches that can be viewed in the Repin Museum.

Here, Ilya Repin wrote many sketches, and began work on one of his most famous paintings: "Barge Haulers on the Volga". First, he wrote a sketch in pencil. It is now stored in the Tretyakov gallery. By 1871, a temporary version of the painting was ready, which won a prize at an exhibition in St. Petersburg. By 1873, the painting was complete. 

Next to the Repin Museum there are two other museums: the House-museum of the poet A. Shiryaevets (Abramov) and the exhibition hall in the house of the merchant Vdovin. All museums are located on the same territory, and the entrance ticket is valid for all three museums.