Preparation for the exam Ilya Repin (1844-1930)

Description of Ilya Repin’s painting "Preparing for Examination"

The painting "Preparing for Examination" is one of the artist’s earliest works. It was painted in 1864, when Repin was only 20 years old. Probably in the work we see a reflection of the reality that just surrounded the artist at such a young age.

In front of us a domestic plot. Two boys are preparing for the exam, but preparations are going very badly. The plot unfolds, most likely, in a student boarding house, where the boys lived in a room with several people. One of the students read a book long and hard. But he got tired and got bored with it. Now he was sleeping soundly on the couch, holding a volume of some obviously boring book. His posture is relaxed, serene. The second student, pictured in the foreground of the work, is not much better engaged than the first. He sits at his desk. There are books and objects for writing scattered around. The boy sits relaxed, dangling his feet under the desk. The student has a cap on his head. But Repin has decided to deliberately emphasize the comicality of the situation, so the cap, he drew a small broom, which like a broom hanging on the forehead of the student. Next to the chair on which the pupil is sitting, a small black dog is lying down.

The background of the work takes the viewer away from the student’s room. Ilya Repin depicts very large windows that visually increase the space of the room. We can see that there is another building behind the windows. Perhaps it is a women’s college or a boarding house. At one of the windows you can see a pink-cheeked girl. She is wearing a light blue dress and reading a book near the window. But she is much less interested in reading than the young, good-looking guy outside the window. She smiles at him.

The painting conveys to us the spirit of youth, of youth. Every detail reminds us of the carefree years of student life. The sun is shining, the first birds are singing, the desire to study is completely gone.