“The tragedy of Mussorgsky’s death was epitomized by Repin in a canvas that provokes today almost as great a response as it did in the hushed days following the composer’s death in March 1881. For a long time Mussorgsky had sought escape from various emotional problems through alcohol. In his later years he had taken to wandering for days about the capital, and turning up unaccountably ragged and penniless at the homes of friends and mere acquaintances. Finally, as a former military cadet, he had been sent to the psychiatric division of the Nikolaevsky military hospital in Saint Petersburg. Informed by Stasov of their old friend’s condition, Repin hastened to the hospital and on March 2nd started to paint the composer’s portrait. As if having a premonition of the musician’s death, Repin managed to complete Mussorgsky’s portrait in four sittings, between March 2 and 5. It emerged a masterpiece in the history of portraiture. It is an arresting portrait of an alcoholic in whom degeneracy is somehow blended with goodness and simplicity with genius.”

from the book Russia On Canvas Ilya Repin
by Fan Parker and Stephen Jan Parker. 1980

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