Ukrainian-born Repin (1844-1930) trained at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg, but broke early on with its foreign inspired classicism to form a new realist school that would reflect the life of ordinary people. He became close to the famous personalities of his era, from Leo Tolstoy to Modest Mussorgsky, joining them in a quest to capture the soul of ‘Mother Russia’. Repin returned regularly to his birthplace and channeled its heritage into his epic paintings. As he made it his mission to portray the social and political changes of a country in turmoil, his surviving work forms an invaluable testament of a Ukrainian patriot during the Russian Empire’s final years.