Museum-estate of I. E. Repin “Zdravnevo”

History of the estate

The history of the Zdravnevo estate began surprisingly - with the painting “Cossacks writing a letter to the Turkish Sultan.” Repin acquired the estate after Alexander III himself bought the painting for 35 thousand rubles in silver in 1891. The money was huge at that time, but the canvas was also large-scale, and the artist worked on it for more than 10 years. The original of the painting is kept in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, and a copy, albeit greatly reduced, is in the artist’s former bedroom, from which all excursions around the manor house begin.

The history of the name of the estate is also worthy of attention - having arrived in Vitebsk in May 1892, Repin learned that the Sofievka estate, named after the then owner - a certain Sofia Yatskevich, was for sale 15 km from the city. A settlement called Dravnevo (or Drovnevo) existed on this site since 1785. Local peasants to the question “Where are they from?” So they answered: “From Drauinev.” From this consonance the name of the Repin estate arose - Zdravnevo.

For about ten years, I. E. Repin and his family vacationed here during the warm season, usually from May to September. The 48-year-old artist began to arrange rural life to his liking. First of all, he rebuilt the house, dug a pond nearby, planted a linden alley and laid out an apple orchard. He strengthened the bank of the Western Dvina and built a pier here. I. E. Repin did many of the works himself and often worked alongside the workers.

Staying in these places became a fruitful time for painting. In Zdravnevo and its environs, Repin created more than 40 paintings and drawings, including “Autumn Bouquet”, “Moonlit Night”, “Duel”, as well as numerous studies and sketches. The Russian Museum in St. Petersburg houses the artist’s painting “Belarus,” for which Repin was posed by the peasant Sidor Shavrov, whose descendants still live nearby.

The summer of 1904 was the last time I. E. Repin came to his estate on the banks of the Western Dvina. Later, his first wife Vera Alekseevna and children - Vera, Nadezhda, Tatyana and Yuri - rested here. Repin's 90-year-old father died at the estate. In 1930, the Repins sold the estate to local peasants for firewood. By the end of the 20th century, only fragments of the foundation remained from the house. In 1988, based on photographs and drawings, the house was restored, but in 1995 it burned down in a fire. In 2000, the Zdravnevo estate was restored again.

Museum

The museum was created on August 11, 1988 by order of the Minister of Culture of the BSSR No. 64 as a branch of the Vitebsk Regional Museum of Local Lore. It is located 16 km north of Vitebsk on the site of the former estate of the artist Ilya Efimovich Repin. During 1892-1902 Repin created here the paintings “Autumn Bouquet”, “Hunter”, “Belarusian”, “On the Western Dvina. Sunrise”, “Moonlit Night”, “Young Ladies Walking Among a Herd of Cows”, “In the Sun”, etc.

The museum-estate complex includes the main manor house, which houses a memorial exhibition, the manager's house (the museum administration and exhibition hall are located here), a cellar, a pond, and part of a linden alley. The exhibition area of the museum is 242 m2.

The memorial exhibition consists of 6 halls. The first tells about the creative and life path of I. E. Repin before the acquisition of Zdravnev, about the history of the purchase and reconstruction of the estate. In the next two, the theme of the artist’s stay in the Vitebsk region from 1892 to 1904 is revealed: acquaintance with representatives of the local intelligentsia, clergy, peasants, guests of the estate and the reflection of this in the works of I. E. Repin. In the fourth room, the interior of the living room has been restored and materials about the artist’s family are presented. The exhibition in the fifth hall is located in the artist’s studio and tells about Repin’s creative searches and works during the Zdravnev period. The exhibition in the sixth hall is dedicated to the stay in Zdravnevo of the family of the artist’s youngest daughter Tatyana Ilinichna Repina-Yazeva (from 1918 to 1930) and the history of the estate in subsequent times.

The exhibition includes copies of photographs, documents, works by I.E. Repin, books, household items of the late 19th-20th centuries, and items found during excavations on the estate. The museum conducts active exhibition activities in collaboration with museums and organizations in Belarus and Russia, and organizes ethnographic festivals and musical evenings.