Description of the picture:
Duel – Ilya Efimovich Repin. One thousand nine hundred thirteen year. Canvas, oil. One hundred three x fifty two cm
The picture is a large canvas with several figures. The action takes place after a duel, when all the important events have already taken place. We see the consequences of the conflict – the wounded or the dying are supported by the seconds, the victor in a duel has turned his back on what is happening and is looking into the sky. What is he thinking about? About the duel won, about the injured opponent, about future consequences? We can only guess about this.
And now we see only the result – young life has been ruined, and you will not envy the second participant in the fight either. Dueling is forbidden, and he will be deported to places where death will follow him on his heels – to the Caucasus or Turkestan.
The picture used saturated, dense colors, dark colors, against which the snow-white shirts of the duelists seemed to glow in the dark. Events take place at the edge of a dark forest, the shadows from the figures are long, sunset, so we understand that it happens in the evening. Compositionally, the figures of people are slightly biased to the side to make the image less static. Their location is balanced by the very dark upper left corner of the canvas.
The figure of an officer in gray attracts attention not only because it is highlighted. This is clearly a senior officer, not only by age, but also by rank. One of the seconds speaks very expressively to him, asking what they should do next. In this disagreement, the main intrigue of the canvas is concluded."