Yavlensky as a student of Repin

The subject of the research is the boundaries of the influence of painting and pedagogy of Ilya Repin on the formation of Alexei Yavlensky's creativity in the heterogeneous artistic context of the 1890s. The object of the study is Yavlensky's early paintings created during his studies at the Academy of Arts and in the early years after emigrating to Munich. Special attention is given to the comparative analysis of his portraits with the works of Repin, Vereshchagina, and old masters to identify the specifics of assimilating and transforming academic principles in his independent style. Within the research framework, the article examines the dialogue with the legacy of Rembrandt and Velázquez, perceived through the lens of Repin's method. The author analyzes in detail the contradictory combination of assimilated academic principles with the search for a personal painting language oriented towards color. The method of research used in the article is comparative analysis. The methodology includes stylistic and iconographic analysis of the works of Yavlensky, Repin, Vereshchagina, and old masters, as well as the study of archival materials, memoirs, and art literature to reconstruct the creative dialogue and pedagogical influence. The main conclusions of the conducted research are the establishment of the dialectical nature of the influence of the Repin school on Alexei Yavlensky. It has been found that, on the one hand, academic training provided a foundation for mastering form and psychology inherited from the old masters. On the other hand, it was precisely the limitations of the academic system that stimulated his explorations in the field of color and expressive painting style, which subsequently defined his path in expressionism. It is shown that Yavlensky's creative method was formed as a result of overcoming, rather than directly following, academic dogmas. A special contribution of the author is the introduction of previously little-studied early works of the artist into scientific circulation and their systematic comparative analysis with the legacy of Repin and Vereshchagina. For the first time, the transformation of Repin's principles in the context of the Munich artistic environment is traced in such detail, enhancing the understanding of the genesis of Russian avant-garde.