| 1. Click player below to start the music.
2. Click the image to dive into the art. 3. Study for four minutes this great study of madness and anger. |
Illya Repin is a revelation for me. His panoramic paintings are strong and full of harsh realism. They are more like an ancient newsreel showing the human condition without false romanticism – although he has painted some "nice" art as well.
The Madness of Ivan the Terrible is a perfect subject for an artist with such rare talents. Ivan is one of the darkest human characters you can imagine. His life was nothing short of hell on earth – for himself and thousands of his underlings.
I am actually surprised that Hollywood has discovered his story yet – he would make a great movie of blood and tears. Russian cinema obviously has made some movies about him – the great Sergei Eisenstein made a two part saga of Ivan the Terrible.
You can watch part I here and part II here.
