Artist Tahir Salahov is now known far beyond the borders of the post-Soviet space. Over his long life, he has written countless paintings that are now kept in museums and private collections around the world. The talent of the painter is unlimited. His authorship includes portraits, still lifes, landscapes, multi-figured paintings. In addition, Salakhov is a famous set designer and graphic artist.
The childhood of the son of an enemy of the people
Salakhov Tair Teymur oglu (otherwise - Salakhov Tair Teymurovich) was born in Baku in 1928. In addition to him, four more children grew up in the family of party worker Teymur Salakhov and his wife Sona. When Tahir 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 their backs on the family of the enemy of the people. For 19 years, no stranger has crossed the threshold of their house.
Education and rehabilitation of the father
After completing his studies at school, Tair entered the Baku Art College. After graduating from it in 1950, he went to Leningrad and applied to the Institute of Painting, Architecture and Sculpture named after Repin. Although Salakhov successfully passed all the entrance exams, he was not accepted to the university because of the stigma "the son of an enemy of the people." Deciding to try his luck again, he submitted documents to the Moscow Art Institute. Surikov and, to great joy, he did. Studying in the studio of the famous Russian painter and teacher Pyotr Pokarzhevsky, Salakhov declared himself as a talented and promising artist. His thesis “On Watch” has become one of the most visible paintings of the Khrushchev thaw period. Today it is stored in St. Petersburg at the Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Arts.
A young Azerbaijani painter graduated from an art institute in 1957, and a year earlier Teymur Salakhov was posthumously rehabilitated and all charges against him were dropped because of the lack of corpus delicti. The tragic fate of his father left an indelible mark on the work of Tahir Salahov, not a moment doubting his innocence. 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.
Pictures of Salakhov
In his early works, Salakhov with astonishing accuracy managed to convey the spirit of the Khrushchev thaw period . The heroes of his paintings were representatives of the working class, whose images are saturated with strength, courage and invincibility. The painter devoted a significant part of his paintings to Azerbaijani oil workers (Repairmen, Morning in the Caspian, Morning Train, Women of Absheron). Later, there was a place in the works of Tahir Salahov for portraits of famous people. The Azerbaijani artist’s brushes belong to paintings depicting composers K. Karaev, F. Amirov, D. Shostakovich, musician M. Rostropovich, actor M. Shell, artist R. Rauschenberg, writer G. Hesse, etc. In addition, Salakhov created many landscapes , still lifes and scenery for theatrical productions. Tahir Teymurovich devoted many of his works to his native Azerbaijan, often depicting the Nakhichevan mountains and Absheron landscapes on canvases.
Awards
After the stigma “son of the enemy of the people” was removed from Tair Teymurovich, popular recognition came to him. In 1960, he was awarded the title of Honored Art Worker of the Azerbaijan SSR, in 1963 - People's Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR, and a decade later - People's Artist of the USSR. In the collection of Salakhov’s awards, there are 13 orders awarded to prominent 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 Art Institute named after Aliyev. During this period, he defended his doctoral dissertation and became a professor. In 1975, 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. Over the years devoted to teaching, Tahir Salahov has prepared a large number of talented artists who live and work today in all corners of the planet.
Tahir Salakhov, despite constant employment, 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 held the position of its vice president.
A family
The artist married twice. His first wife was the artist Vanzetta Hanum. During a life together with her, Tahir Salahov had three daughters - Lara, Alagez and Aidan. Now the painter lives in marriage with the soloist of the State Ensemble Igor Moiseev Varvara Aleksandrovna Salakhova. In marriage with her, his son Ivan was born. The youngest daughter of Tair Teymurovich Aidan Salakhova is today a famous artist and gallery owner. She, like her father in the old days, is now teaching at the Surikov Institute.
Painter Tahir Salahov: “The Sun at its Zenith”
Since the mid-50s, Salakhov’s paintings have repeatedly been presented at regional, republican, all-Union and international shows, as well as at personal exhibitions of the painter. The largest exhibition of the artist - “The Sun at the Zenith” - took place at the beginning of 2016 in the Tretyakov Gallery. It presented nearly 80 works by Salakhov, relating to different periods of his work. In addition to the works known to all, one could see portraits of the mother of Tair Teymurovich, which were rarely exhibited for public display.
The exhibition became the main cultural event of Moscow and attracted great attention from connoisseurs of art and media representatives. Tahir Salakhov was present in the Tretyakov Gallery personally. The 87-year-old painter gave interviews, talked with guests and showed others that, despite his considerable age, he was still full of energy and was not going to go on a well-deserved rest.