Ilya Repin (1844-1930) was the undisputed leader of the Realist School of painting that arose in Russia in the nineteenth century. He became friends with renowned contemporaries such as Musorgsky, Tolstoy and Rubinstein, and was deeply involved in the great cultural and social changes taking place in Russia at that time. Right up until the present, Repin is regarded as Russia's national painter. He was a rare virtuoso artist who recorded his interaction with the world around him in brilliant, monumental paintings that attest to great dramatic quality. Works such as The Volga Barge Haulers and the portrait of Musorgsky are a part of the collective memory of the Russian people.