Description of the picture:
Did not wait – Ilya Efimovich Repin. 1884. Oil on canvas. 160.5×167.5
One of the most famous paintings of Repin, thanks to school reading books and textbooks, is known to every student. The plot of the work is the return of the exiled revolutionary home after imprisonment. The picture is filled with a thick and viscous atmosphere. The depicted instant allows you to study it from all angles. Everything is here – and intense indecision, fear, admiration, joy, fear … Cross-sights are the key to the plot.
The central figure is an exiled. His eyes are especially expressive against the background of a haggard face, they have a question, intense expectation. However, it is obvious that the link did not break the revolutionary; he remained true to his views.
The views of all those present are directed towards the main character: from openly frightened to admired by children; full of restrained conviction – a maid; curious at the cook.
The only interesting figure in the picture, the eye of which we do not see, is a woman (mother?) In black. Her gaze is more likely to be guessed by her pose: tense and static.
One gets the feeling that in the next second the situation will be resolved: those present will rush to embrace their suddenly returning relative, or, on the contrary, turn away from him and ask them not to disturb anymore. The author leaves the situation beyond the scope of his work. Before us is the instant decision …"