AT THE END OF HIS LIFE, the painter Ilya Repin was living in Finland, his home of 30 years. He was just an hour by train from St Petersburg, but Russia was closed to him. Stalin was nevertheless a great admirer and in 1925 sent a delegation to persuade the artist to resume citizenship of the motherland.
Although Repin had been a supporter of the revolution, he was appalled at the turn it had taken, and
