The revolt, which was led by the realist painter Ivan Kramskoi, was a response to the academy's refusal to give the competitors a free choice of art subject in the competition.

A number of Academy graduate students who completed the full course of study were allowed to compete for the Grand Gold Medal, an honour that carried a six-year fellowship to work in Italy or France.

[1][2] When the theme of the competition was announced, the contestants had to stay in isolated workshops for a full day, and had 24 hours to plan their entries and draw a sketch of a future picture.

As a result, the Council decided not to implement broad themes and reverted to the usual practice of assigning the competitors specific topics.

[2] After the announcement, Ivan Kramskoi delivered a short speech declaring his refusal to participate in the competition, and criticising the Academy for not responding to their petitions.

[10] This is an indication the artists were not opposed in principle to the Academy of Arts, to which they belonged in many respects; they wanted to be free to independently show and sell their work.

[1][11] Historians such as John Ellis Bowlt and Tamara Talbot Rice cite the revolt as the source of realism in Russian art.