The 27-year-old Repin, who presented the hard work of the working class with realism, won wide international acclaim for his paintings, which can be called the peak of art in the 70s of the 19th century, and established Russia's place in the history of world art.
The Slender Man on the Volga is an oil painting depicting the miserable life of the people under the tsarist regime. Created by the famous painter Repin, this work exposes the barbaric exploitation of the people by the tsarist system through vivid pictures and profound human figures.
The slender men in the picture are the poorest laborers who have been exhausted by hard labor. Carrying heavy ropes on their backs, they walked with difficulty on the banks of the Volga. Their faces were haggard and thin, as if they had been crushed by life. However, in Repin's pen, these slender men have not completely lost hope and strength. Their eyes reveal fortitude and bravery, as if to tell people that they still have the ability to resist oppression and fight for freedom.
The painter Repin was engrossed in portraying each image, expressing the rich inner world and extremely distinctive personality traits of each character who appeared on the scene. Through his delicate brushstrokes and use of color, he vividly expresses the suffering life of the slender men. At the same time, he also affirmed the hidden power of the people, indicating that the people will eventually be free from oppression and usher in freedom and liberation.
This oil painting not only exposes the contradictions of reality, but also affirms the positive forces of society. It shows people the resilience and bravery of the people and inspires people to fight for freedom and justice. In the history of painting, this work is regarded as a landmark masterpiece because it expresses the lives and emotions of the people so deeply and realistically.