What's going on in this painting by Ilya Repin?

The idea for the painting ‘What Freedom!’ (1903) arose from a scene Repin witnessed in Kuokkala (now Repino, near St. Petersburg), on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. In 1899, the artist acquired a plot of land there, built a country estate based on his own design and named it ‘Penates’ in honor of the ancient Roman gods, guardians of the hearth. He lived there from 1903 until his death in 1930. While strolling along the shore, the artist saw a young couple – a male and female student – caught off guard by a sudden wave.

According to Repin's recollections, the young people were not frightened by the force of the elements, but laughed and fooled around in the water. Their joy inspired the artist to paint the picture. To convey emotion, Repin used a technique close to Impressionism – uneven, broad brushstrokes. This allowed him to uniquely depict the raging waters, which appear greenish-transparent in the foreground and transition to a harsh blue in the background.

The artist dismissed any interpretation of his painting other than the literal: "Just a male student and female student dancing a ‘mazurka’ by the sea; that's all there is to it!" However, the public immediately saw symbolism in the painting. In the historical context of 1903, on the eve of the First Russian Revolution, when society was electrified, ‘What Freedom!’ provoked a storm of reaction. 

The most vocal and loudest voices came from left-leaning contemporaries, who saw in the images of the young man and woman entranced by the sea an allegory of the younger generation, which was joyfully and fearlessly marching toward the approaching "storm of revolution". All the more so, because, in 19th-century Russian poetry and painting, the sea was often more than just a sea and, toward the middle of the century, it had come to be perceived as a revolutionary force.

However, influential art critic Vladimir Stasov put an end to the debate. He proposed an interpretation that satisfied everyone: the painting depicts "Russian youth who have not lost their courage, hope and joyful aspirations amidst the adversities that have overwhelmed them".