They Did Not Expect Him is a painting by realist artist Ilya Repin made between 1884 and 1888. It depicts the return of a narodnik from exile and his family's reaction. The painting is part of Repin's "Narodniki" series, which includes four other artworks.
They Did Not Expect Him
First version of They Did Not Expect Him (1883)
Sketch for They Did Not Expect Him (1884)
Returned exile
Ilya Yefimovich Repin was a Ukrainian-born Russian painter. He became one of the most renowned artists in Russia in the 19th century. His major works include Barge Haulers on the Volga (1873), Religious Procession in Kursk Province (1880–1883), Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan (1885); and Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks (1880–1891). He is also known for the revealing portraits he made of the leading Russian literary and artistic figures of his time, including Mikhail Glinka, Modest Mussorgsky, Pavel Tretyakov, and especially Leo Tolstoy, with whom he had a long friendship.
Self-portrait (1887), Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
"Students studying for an exam at the Academy of the Arts" (1864) (State Russian Museum)
Early sketch for Barge Haulers on the Volga (1870)
Barge Haulers on the Volga (1870–1873); Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg