Famous artist of Nakhchivan Shamil Gaziyev

Famous artist Shamil Gaziyev was born on March 30, 1908 in the ancient land of Azerbaijan, Irevan. At that time, the Gaziyev family was one of the well-known and intellectual generations of Irevan. As a result of political events in Irevan and genocides against Muslims, the Gaziyev family, like dozens of Azerbaijanis, moved to Nakhchivan.

Shamil Gaziyev’s interest in painting was so great that he went to Baku to study art before graduating from the Nakhchivan Pedagogical College. After graduating from the Baku Art School in 1929, he worked as an art teacher at the Nakhchivan Pedagogical College in 1929-1932. After 1932, he worked as an artist in the “Communist” and “Eastern Gate” newspapers. He was the director of his school, and in 1948-1980 he was an artist in the “Azerbaijan Youth” newspaper. The founder of professional fine arts in Azerbaijan, Bahruz Kangarli in Nakhchivan, the successor of Azim Azimzade’s legacy in Baku, the artist created the series “Old Nakhchivan”, “Irevan”, “Gusar”.

The series “Old Nakhchivan” in the works of Shamil Gaziyev is a clear description of the history, culture, beautiful nature, natural beauties, unique relief of Nakhchivan. This series includes “Old Nakhchivan”, “Old Yard”, “Old Hotel”, “Khinjov Quarter”, “Lavashyapanlar”, “Covered Bazaar”, “Old Imamzade”, “Girls Spring”, “Waterfall”. “Nakhchivan bath”, “Bulls moaning”, “Mill”, “Shoemakers”, “Sickle collective farm”, “Breadwinner”, “Grain harvesters”, “Landscape”, “Molla school”, “Sunset”, “Late mill” , “Tinners”, “Hirmanda”, “Nakhchivan at the beginning of the XIX century”. Shamil Gaziyev’s work in the field of theater, as well as graphics and painting is a continuation of the traditions of Bahruz bey Kangarli. There are also paintings by Bahruz Kangarli, such as “Imamzade”, “Refugees”, “Girls ‘Spring”, “Waterfall”, “Road to the Village”, “Snake Mountain” in Shamil Gaziyev’s works: “Girls’ Spring”, “Refugees”, “Old Imamzade”, “Waterfall” and others.

The artist’s works included in the “Old Nakhchivan” series are characteristic for assessing the people’s life, people’s labor and hard work. The artist, who prefers the genre of landscape in his works included in this series, applied this genre as an independent and auxiliary genre of plot painting. The painting “Girls’ Fountain” was painted in 1939 from the works of the famous artist in the genre of landscape. This painting differs from other works of the artist because it is smaller. It should be noted that this historical place located in Nakhchivan is still known as the “Spring of Girls”. The Spring of Girls, a very beautiful and picturesque place, attracted the attention of Shamil Gaziyev, and the artist worked on this painting in the most colorful time of his youth.

We should not forget the work “Sickle Collective Farm”, which the artist sketched the neighborhood where he spent his youth and drew in black pencil in 1945. Shamil Gaziyev’s masterpieces include “Pre-Revolutionary Nakhchivan” or “Early 19th Century”, which are part of the “Old Nakhchivan” series and are known by two names. In the painting, the artist showed his love for his homeland and revived several historical places of our homeland. In the work you can see “Khan Diki”, “Tomb of the Faithful Lady” in its territory, the Bazar River flowing through the center of the city and turning into a beautiful waterfall in the present “Girls’ Spring”.

It should be noted that the honorary title of “Honored Art Worker of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic”, established in the 1940s, was first awarded to Shamil Gaziyev in 1944, and in 1978 his solo exhibition was organized in Nakhchivan. In 2010, under the auspices of the Chairman of the Supreme Assembly of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, an album-catalog containing 56 paintings by the artist was prepared and published in Nakhchivan. The 110th anniversary of the prominent artist was celebrated at a high level in the ancient land.

Continuing the Bahruz Kangarli school of realism, Shamil Gaziyev created interesting works in the genres of graphics, still life, landscape, portrait. Today, the works of the immortal artist also play an important role in restoring our historical monuments to their original appearance.