Azim Azimzade was an Azerbaijani visual artist. He was known for his satirical graphic caricatures, paintings, theatre sets, costume sketches, and book illustrations.
Background
Azim Azimzade was born on May 7, 1880, in Novxanı, Baku Governorate, Russian Empire (currently on the territory of Absheron Rayon, Azerbaijan). He came from the family of Aslan Kerbalayi Abdul Azim, a villager who worked as a stonemason.
The four sisters of Azim died before the age of ten. He was the only survived child in the family.
Education
Azim Azimzade spent the first years of his life in a small village of Novxanı. Soon after his birth, the father moved the family to the city searching for better work opportunities. He was given a job on the construction of a large house for a merchant.
Azimzade began his education in a religious school at the age of eight. During three years he spent there, he learned to read and write in Arabic and Persian. In 1895, he entered the Russian-Tatar school and pursued his elementary education. It was there where Azimzade developed an interest in art. He created illustrations for his favorite books and always helped teachers with visual stuff. He graduated in 1899.
Azimzade didn't have formal training in art and was mostly an autodidact. He discovered the techniques of oil painting from the Russsian artist who worked on murals for Aghabala Guliyev’s mansion in Baku.
Career
The start of Azim Azimzade’s career can be counted from the age of fifteen when he became an apprentice on a foundry, and then worked as an office boy. Passionate about art, he didn’t stop to paint all this time.
The first published work by Azimzade, the drawing entitled “The Subscriber to the ‘Irshad’ Newspaper” appeared in 1906 in a magazine ‘Molla Nasreddin’, the forerunner of satirical caricature and cartoon in Azerbaijan. It was the beginning of the long collaboration which lasted the next quarter of a century. Being anti-religious and anti-imperialist cartoons, Azimzade’s works of the period touched social and political issues of the time, like the aggressive policies of European imperialists towards the countries of the East. In the course of time, Azimzade developed his unique style and became a chief artist of the periodical.
While working in the ‘Molla Nasreddin’, Azim Azimzade closely partnered with its editor, a talented writer of political essays and playwright, Jalil Mammadguluzadeh. Azimzade created hundreds of clear and laconic drawings to illustrate Mammadguluzadeh’s writings.
In addition to the publications in ‘Molla Nasreddin’, the young artist contributed his cartoons and colorful drawings on burning topics in other satirical periodicals like ‘Kelniyet’, ‘Baraban’, ‘Bich’, and a comic weekly ‘Zanbur’ which he edited from 1909 to 1910. Having enough experience by the time, Azimzade tried himself as an educator. He gave private lessons and organized workshops for talented children from the working class. At the end of 1914, the artist started his one-year collaboration with the magazine ‘Mazali’ and a two-year one in ‘Tuti’. From 1915 to 1916, he worked as an illustrator in ‘Babai Amir’ magazine as well.
The same 1914 year, Azimzade produced illustrations for Mirza Alakbar Sabir’s poetry collection ‘Hophopname’. He also worked on the drawings for the second edition of the volume in 1922 adding 28 illustrations to the 24 originals. Other books which Azimzade illustrated during the subsequent years included Abdurrahim bey Hagverdiyev’s short stories ‘My Deer’, ‘Letters from Hell’, Jalil Mammadguluzadeh’s short story collection ‘Perhaps it will be Returned’, Nariman Narimanov’s ‘Shrine’ and ‘Sanctuary’, and Huseyngulu Sarabski’s book ‘Old Baku’.
As a quite well-known person by the 1920s, Azim Azimzade took part in many social and cultural activities, organizing folk festivals, creating theatre sets, both for classical and modern plays, and assisting multiple concert-meetings. He headed the Department of Culture at the People’s Commissariat of Enlightenment during the decade.
One of the most remarkable projects of the time was creating posters for the ‘Russian Telegraph Agency Windows of Satire’ in Baku. Working alongside such artists like Beno Telingater, Gazanfer Khaligov, and Ismail Akhundov, Azimzade produced many laconic works notable for their powerful political edge and brightness of appearance. In 1920, the artist was among the founders of the first art school in Baku. He was in its staff since the beginning till the end of his life serving as its principal from 1932 to 1937.
The significant part of the best paintings and cartoon series, like ‘Scenes from an Old Household’ was produced during the 1930s. The social contrasts of the old Azerbaijan were reflected in the ironic and sarcastic works of the time, including ‘Wedding in a Poor House’, ‘Wedding in a Wealthy House’, ‘Women’s Wedding’, ‘Ramadan in a Poor House’, ‘Ramadan in a Wealthy House’, and ‘Gurban Bayram in a Wealthy House’. In 1933, the artist presented his posters to the public in Moscow at the group show of Azerbaijani artists. Four years later, Azimzade gathered 26 of his paintings in a volume ‘Shadows of the Past’.
During World War II, Azim Azimzade collaborated with other soviet artists on anti-fascist posters. He produced about fifty sharp and creative caricatures from 1941-1943. ‘Lion and Kitten’ of 1941 was among the examples.
Azimzade’s works were widely exhibited both in Baku and Moscow. In 1940, the artist was named the first Chairman of the newly-created Union of Artists of Azerbaijan. It coincided with two solo shows, the debut one in Baku Museum of Modern Art featuring about 1,200 works, and in Moscow.
Azim Azimzade joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1923.
Views
The main part of Azim Azimzade's canvases is focused on various social imperfections, like incomplete laws, outdated traditions, and social inequality. Each work invites the viewer to analyze and evaluate the reflected situations and events. So, the artist taught the audience to be the active participants of reality that surrounded them.
Azimzade was also attached to the antireligious topic in his oeuvre. So, the main personage of his ‘Pilgrimage’ series was Haji who had many difficulties on his way to the holy lands before coming back to his homeland as a genuine hero. Haji was the allegory of the real pilgrims who met lots of obstacles on their way to the holy places.
Personality
Azim Azimzade was workaholic. He took an active part in various social and cultural activities of his time.
Quotes from others about the person
“Azim Azimzade reveals the typical features of people of various estates, the rare, significant features of this or that character, for which he won the genuine admiration of his contemporaries. It is no accident that his works created genuine interest among different sections of the population and artists. They admired him first of all because they could all see everything that he painted in their own environment, in their own daily lives. The paintings, pictures and, in particular, the cartoons are always close to ordinary people.” Omar Eldarov, Azerbaijani sculptor
“The formation and development of modern graphic art in Azerbaijan are closely tied to the name of Azimzade. He made a unique contribution to the development of our national visual arts in the 20th century, enriching our graphic art with new genres and characters and gave great impetus to the raising of young artists. For all these reasons, Azim Azimzade holds a place of glory in the chronicles of 20th century Azerbaijan visual arts.” Nuraddin Habibov, art critic and educator
Connections
Azim Azimzade was married to a woman named Sarah. They had two sons, Gabbib and Latif. The latter was killed at the World War II.
The elder, Gabbib, did his best to memorialize his prominent father.
Father:
Aslan Kerbalayi Abdul Azim
Mother:
Zahra Khanum
late wife:
Sarah Azimzade
Son:
Gabbib Azimzade
Son:
Latif Azimzade
colleague:
Jalil Mammadguluzadeh
References
"Servet" series of albums. The National Heritage project.
As part of The National Heritage project implemented by Xalq Bank, Azerbaijan National Museum of Art under the head of Chingiz Farzaliyev prepared the "Servet" series of albums dedicated to the masters of Azerbaijani art.