Biography and work of Tair Salakhov

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The artist Tahir Salakhov is now known far beyond the borders of the post-Soviet space. During his long life, he created countless paintings, which are now kept in museums and private collections around the world. The artist's talent is limitless. His authorship includes portraits, still lifes, landscapes, multi-figure paintings. In addition, Salakhov is a well-known stage designer and graphic artist.

Childhood of the son of an enemy of the people

Salakhov Tahir Teymur oglu (otherwise - Salakhov Tahir Teymurovich) was born in Baku in 1928. In addition to him, four more children were growing up in the family of party worker Teimour Salakhov and his wife Sona. When Tair was 9 years old, his father was arrested on charges of separatism and sentenced to death. The widowed Sona was forced to raise five children alone. She did not have to rely on outside help, because all relatives and friends turned away from the family of the enemy of the people. For 19 years thresholdnot a single stranger stepped over their house.

Education and father rehabilitation

After completing his studies at school, Tahir entered the Baku Art School. After graduating in 1950, he went to Leningrad and applied to the Institute of Painting, Architecture and Sculpture. Repin. Although Salakhov successfully passed all the entrance exams, he was not admitted to the university because of the stigma "son of an enemy of the people." Deciding to try his luck again, he applied to the Moscow Art Institute. Surikov and, to great joy, entered. Studying in the workshop of the famous Russian painter and teacher Pyotr Pokarzhevsky, Salakhov declared himself as a talented and promising artist. His graduation work "From the watch" became one of the most notable paintings of the Khrushchev thaw period. Today it is kept in St. Petersburg at the Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Arts.

The young Azerbaijani painter finished his studies at the Art Institute in 1957, and a year earlier, Teymur Salakhov was posthumously rehabilitated and all charges against him were dropped due to the lack of corpus delicti. The tragic fate of his father left an indelible mark on the work of Tahir Salakhov, who never doubted his innocence for a minute. In the second half of the 50s, he became the founder of the "severe style" in socialist painting, which is the opposite of Stalinist realism.

Salahov's paintings

In his early works, Salakhov with amazing accuracy managed to convey the spirit of the Khrushchev thaw period. Heroeshis canvases were representatives of the working class, whose images are imbued with strength, courage and invincibility. The painter devoted a significant part of his paintings to the Azerbaijani oil workers (“Repairmen”, “Morning in the Caspian Sea”, “Morning Echelon”, “Women of Absheron”). Later, in the work of Tair Salakhov, a place was found for portraits of famous people. The Azerbaijani artist painted paintings depicting composers K. Karaev, F. Amirov, D. Shostakovich, musician M. Rostropovich, actor M. Schell, artist R. Rauschenberg, writer G. Hesse, etc. In addition, Salakhov created many landscapes, still lifes and scenery for theatrical performances. Tair Teymurovich devoted many of his works to his native Azerbaijan, often depicting the Nakhichevan mountains and Absheron landscapes on his canvases.

Awards

After the stigma "son of an enemy of the people" was removed from Tahir Teymurovich, he received nationwide recognition. In 1960, he was awarded the title of Honored Art Worker of the AzSSR, in 1963 - the People's Artist of the AzSSR, and a decade later - the People's Artist of the USSR. Salakhov's collection of awards includes 13 orders awarded to outstanding artists. In addition, he is a Hero of Socialist Labor and a laureate of 6 prestigious awards.

Pedagogical and social activities

In 1963-1974, Tahir Salahov, whose biography is described in the article, taught at the Azerbaijan Institute of Arts named after. Aliyev. During this period, he defended his doctoral dissertation and became a professor. AT1975 Salakhov was invited to work at the Moscow Art Institute. Surikov. In the period from 1984 to 1992, he headed the department of painting and composition in it. Over the years devoted to teaching, Tahir Salakhov has trained a large number of talented artists who live and work today in all corners of the planet.

Tair Salakhov, despite being constantly busy, managed to find time for social activities. From the late 70s to the present day, he has been a member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Arts. In addition, since 1997, the painter has served as its vice president.

Family

The artist married twice. His first wife was the artist Vanzetta Khanum. During their life together with her, Tahir Salakhov had three daughters - Lara, Alagez and Aidan. Now the painter is married to the soloist of the State Ensemble of Igor Moiseev Varvara Alexandrovna Salakhova. In marriage with her, his son Ivan was born. The youngest daughter of Tair Teymurovich Aidan Salakhova is today a well-known artist and gallery owner. She, like her father in the old days, now teaches at the Surikov Institute.

Painter Tahir Salakhov: "The sun at its zenith"

Starting from the mid-50s, Salakhov's paintings were repeatedly presented at regional, republican, all-Union and international reviews, as well as at the personal exhibitions of the painter. The largest exhibition of the artist - "The Sun at its Zenith" - took place in early 2016 at the Tretyakov Gallery. She hadclose to 80 works by Salakhov are presented, relating to different periods of his work. In addition to well-known works, here one could see portraits of Tair Teymurovich's mother, which were rarely exhibited to the public.

The exhibition has become the main cultural event in Moscow and attracted great attention from art connoisseurs and media representatives. Tahir Salakhov was personally present at the Tretyakov Gallery. The 87-year-old painter gave interviews, talked with guests and demonstrated to others that, despite his advanced age, he is still full of energy and is not going to go on a well-deserved rest.