Peredvizhniki paintings on display in Beijing

Visitors view the Peredvizhniki paintings at the National Museum of China in Beijing, April 24, 2015. [Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

Barge Haulers on the Volga of Ilya Repin is perhaps the most familiar Peredvizhniki work to Chinese viewers. A current exhibition at the National Museum of China offers people an in-depth insight into the art group by displaying other Peredvizhniki paintings from the State Tretyakov Gallery.

Echoes from the Volga River displays 64 paintings to give a comprehensive introduction to the Peredvizhniki, or the Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions in the 19th century. A group of Russian realist artists formed the cooperative in an effort to break free from the restrictions of academic art rules. They painted for people and expressed in their works the happiness and hardship of the underprivileged.

On show are landscapes, genre paintings and celebrities' portraits. The exhibition runs through July 26.