Summer 1999 (7.2)
Tahir Salahov
(1928- )
A Hint of Red - Pushing
the Limits of Socialist Realism
by Azad Sharifov and Jean
Patterson
For Azerbaijani painter Tahir Salahov, red is
a color that's best used sparingly. It's great for accenting
specific objects-whether it be naturally red objects such as
chili peppers, pomegranates or books, or objects not normally
associated with red such as an oil tanker, an oil pipeline, a
man's shirt, a windmill or even the Eiffel Tower in Paris. In
Tahir's early work, apart from this touch of red, the remainder
of his canvas was typically spread with neutral tones ranging
from light gray and beige to darker shades of olive, brown and
black. Take away the red, which obviously was associated with
Communism, and the painting loses its dramatic edge.
Socialist Realism
Tahir's development as an artist starting out in the 1950s was
largely shaped by the Soviet government's mandate-namely, that
all artists should paint according to the style defined as "Socialist
Realism". Socialist Realism insisted that paintings should
mirror "real" life; that is, artists should "paint
what they see." Soviet authorities thought this would facilitate
the ability of the masses to comprehend art. In other words,
artists were not free to use symbolic representations. Colors
and shapes should be realistic. However, the term "Socialist
Realism" also implied that the subject matter that artists
painted would be cheerful, productive, confident and optimistic-not
gray, dismal, depressing or questioning.
But Tahir took this mandate a step further and created his own
style, thereby making his own statement. Today people refer to
it as "Severe Socialist Realism". Tahir's early works,
though realistic, dare to suggest that life was not rosy and
triumphant despite the fact that his themes clearly fell within
the prescribed formula.
As
a young painter, Tahir Salahov knew all too well what could happen
when one confronted the Soviet system. When Tahir was only ten
years old, his father was arrested. At the time, his father was
serving as First Secretary of the Regional Party Committee in
Lachin, a region in southern Azerbaijan. Such scenarios were
repeated thousands of times during those horrendous years of
1937-38 that became known as the years of Stalin's Repression.
Like a black widow that consumes its mate, Stalin and those under
his command eliminated any person of whom they were suspicious,
or in many cases, any person whom they held the slightest grudge
against. The individual had not necessarily committed a crime
against the government though, of course, stories were always
fabricated elaborating such crimes, and the individual was promptly
branded as an "Enemy of the People". Tahir's father
was shot and killed on July 4, 1938.
Tahir found refuge in the world of drawing-first, at the Pioneer
Palace and later in Art College. He remembers his first introduction
to art. He had borrowed a book from the library and after reading
it, someone suggested that he draw pictures to illustrate the
story. He kept the book several weeks longer and did just that,
and thus began what turned out to be a very successful career
in the arts. Later on he drew pictures for many books without
prodding from anyone. His first Exhibition was for the Belinski
Library in Baku.
Tahir Salahov, "New Sea",
260 x 260 cm, oil on canvas, 1970.
At first, Tahir's family ties hindered his career. Once as a
first-year student at the Azim Azimzade Art Institute in Baku,
he took part in an Azerbaijan-wide contest of young painters.
Instead of using his own name, he submitted his work to the Commission
via two other artists who signed their names to it. The work
was awarded first prize. It took awhile before the identity of
Tahir as the real painter was learned.
Tahir's dream was to study at the Repin Institute of Fine Arts
in St. Petersburg. But he was not able to gain admittance to
the school, even though his skills were recognized by the Commission.
The issue of his father blocked his entrance. The son of an "Enemy
of the People" could not be enrolled. Determined to get
an education in art, he applied to Moscow to the Surikov State
Art Academy. This time he concealed information about his father
and was successful in gaining admission.
Severe Realism
Tahir
belonged to the generation of young Soviet artists that emerged
in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Being from Baku, he often
chose industrial Azerbaijan as the subject for his early paintings.
He loved the city, Ichari Shahar (Inner City), the ancient Maiden's
Tower, the Caspian Sea and its sandy beaches. He loved watching
the fishermen plying their trade and the courageous workers coaxing
the oil from the earth's depths.
In particular, the oil workers at Oil Rocks drew his attention.
Oil Rocks is a settlement built up like an island on wooden piers
out in one of the shallower sections of the Caspian Sea. It marks
mankind's first attempt to extract oil from under a major body
of water-not only in Azerbaijan but in the entire world. Oil
Rocks is nearly 50 years old now, but at the time it was quite
new, having been built only 10 to 15 years before Tahir began
focusing on it.
Tahir Salahov, "Morning
Train", 150 x 200 cm, oil on canvas, 1958.
Today, oil workers still live in those dormitories and work in
that isolated, man-made environment. Set against this unsafe
environment of the treacherous seas, the oil workers became the
"heroes" in many of Tahir's paintings. They were strong
and hardworking-fitting symbols of Soviet industrial might. At
the time, the Soviet Union prided itself on its industrialization.
One memorable work is Tahir's "Morning Train" (1958)
which he painted a year after his graduation from the Surikov
State Art Academy in Moscow. His painting shows an industrialized
landscape in which almost everything visible is man-made. Cars
and trucks speed through a highway underpass while oil tanks
pass overhead. Most of the painting is made in neutral shades
of sand and cement, except for one oil tank car, which he painted
red. Visible exhaust coming out of the vehicles heightens the
sense of movement and reinforces the industrial motif. The painting,
with its dull colors and man-made modes of transportation framed
in concrete, lacks the usual warmth of human interaction. Perhaps,
that was part of what the artist was trying to say for those
who cared to understand what was not painted into the picture.
"Morning Train" was exhibited at the 1958 All-Union
Art Exhibition in Moscow, commemorating the 40th anniversary
of the Young Communist League.
Tahir went on to paint many more oil-related scenes over the
following years. Subjects in his paintings include a deserted
oil reservoir ("Reservoir Park", 1959), a group of
three oil maintenance workers on their way to an emergency ("The
Maintenance Men", 1960) and an up-close portrait of an oil
worker ("Oil Worker", 1959). Unlike the scenes found
in paintings following the style of Socialist Realism, Tahir's
workers are not romanticized. Instead, they look serious, tired
and dirty and often uncertain. The world he depicted on his canvases
was not the confident, optimistic microcosm that the Soviets
always tried to present to the world.
Tahir Salahov, "The Shift is Over",
165 x 368 cm, oil on canvas, 1957.
Another example of
Severe Socialist Realism can be found in Tahir's painting "Women
of Absheron" (1967). [See the back cover of this issue.]
A group of women stand near the shore, waiting for their husbands-oil
workers-to return home. One assumes that the men live on Oil
Rocks and only get a chance to come home occasionally. Instead
of talking and mingling with one another, as would be expected
of Azerbaijani women, their eyes look vacant, somehow resigned
to their fate with the one exception of the oldest woman, whose
eyes and face are more expressive of the situation. A sense of
loneliness is created by the fact that each woman is looking
off into the distance in a different direction. It's almost as
if the women are statues, islands unto themselves. With their
sullen expressions, they seem to be focused inward, unsure of
the future, unsure of their destinies-separated from their men
and forced to carry the responsibilities of their families on
their own shoulders.
The painting does not show the women happy to be part of the
grand experiment of industrialization and production.
Again, Tahir uses red to accent his painting, this time in two
places: the clothing of the youngest girl and a piece of pipeline
which helps identify the narrative for why the women are gathered
together in the first place. The painting appeared in the 1967
All-Union Art Exhibition in Moscow; it is currently being kept
at Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery.
Tahir's travels abroad also influenced his style. He was one
of the privileged few who got a chance to visit countries such
as Czechoslovakia, France, Spain, Bulgaria, Italy, Mexico, Japan
and the United States and painted many of the scenes that he
saw there. In "The Mexican Bullfight" (1969), Tahir
recaptures a moment from his visit to Mexico. The frame is dominated
by a large, black bull facing off against a matador dressed in
bright red. A few sombreros in the background represent the excited
crowd in the arena. The focus is on the dramatic, ritualized
conflict against what appears as a faceless enemy.
Portraits
Portraits occupy a special place
in Tahir's creative activity. He has painted the portraits of
Azerbaijan's foremost composers-Gara Garayev (1918-1982) and
Fikrat Amirov (1922-1984) along with Azerbaijani poet Rasul Reza
(1910-1981) and Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975),
to name a few. Each portrait reflects Tahir's efforts to draw
out the inner worlds of his subjects.
For example, Tahir's portrait of Garayev (1960) stresses the
composer's inner concentration and creativity. [This portrait
may be found in the article "Remembering Gara Garayev,"
AI 6.3, Autumn 1998]. Even though portraits were almost always
painted with the subject facing forward, Tahir established a
side view of Garayev. Once again, the colors are neutral tones,
except for a bright red music book. Garayev's face is plunged
in shadow, as if he has been caught in a moment of deep concentration.
At any moment, it looks like the composer might suddenly stand
up and rush over to the piano to jot down a few bars. This portrait
was awarded the Silver Medal of the USSR Academy of Arts.
Tahir Salahov, "Portrait
of the Russian Composer Dmitri Shostakovich", 136 x 115
cm, oil on canvas, 1974-76.
When Tahir painted Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich's portrait
(1974-76), he took a much different approach. Shostakovich, who
was seriously ill when he sat for the portrait, solemnly gazes
into space with his back to the piano. His frail hands rest on
a red velvet piano stool.
Today, Tahir Salahov lives in Moscow, where he is a professor
and has a studio at the Moscow Art Institute. He has received
numerous honors, including People's Artist of Azerbaijan (1962),
Secretary of the USSR Artists' Union (1968), Member of the Central
Committee of the Azerbaijan Communist Party (1970), Deputy to
the USSR Supreme Soviet (1970), Order of the Red Banner of Labor
(1971), President of the Artists' Union in Azerbaijan (1972),
People's Artist of the USSR (1973) Head of the Studio of Easel
Painting at the Surikov Art Institute in Moscow (beginning in
1974), Full Member of the Soviet Academy of Arts (1975), Order
of the October Revolution (1976), Grekov Gold Medal (1977), Deputy
to the Russian Supreme Soviet (1980) and numerous all-Soviet
and State Prizes for his paintings.
Tahir lives in Moscow and can be
reached at Tel: (95) 201-7274 or Faxes: (95) 243-6551 or 290-2088.
From Azerbaijan
International (7.2) Summer 1999.
© Azerbaijan International 1999. All rights reserved.