Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya, 3rd Year student at the Art School, 1948.
Gallery of Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya
1950
Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya in 1950.
Gallery of Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya
1950
Alumni and teachers of the Azimzade Art School at the graduation party in 1950. Back row from right to left: Baba Aliyev, Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya, Tahir Salahov. Front row first on the right: Aliagha Mammadov. From left to right: Mirzaagha Gafarov, Asef Jafarov.
Gallery of Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya
Baku, Azerbaijan
Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya among students of the Art School, Baku.
During the period from 1951 till 1956, Elmira studied at the Surikov Moscow State Academic Art Institute.
Career
Gallery of Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya
1960
Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya in 1960.
Gallery of Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya
1961
Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya with her son Altay near the "Aznefit" building in 1961.
Gallery of Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya
1978
Baku, Azerbaijan
Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya at the opening ceremony of her solo exhibition in Baku, 1978.
Gallery of Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya
1987
Ismayilli, Azerbaijan
Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya and Ogtay Sadigzade in Ismayilli in 1987.
Gallery of Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya
1987
Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya in 1987.
Gallery of Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya
1988
Moscow, Russian Federation
Opening ceremony of Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya’s solo exhibition in Moscow. From right to left: Tahir Salahov, Oleg Savostyuk, Yusif Hüseynov, Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya, Altay Sadigzade, Ogtay Sadigzade, Vagif Verdiyev, Nikolai Ponomarev, 1988.
Gallery of Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya
Gallery of Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya
Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya and Ogtay Sadigzade.
Achievements
Membership
Awards
Medal of the People's Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR
Medal of the Honored Art Worker of the Azerbaijan SSR
Alumni and teachers of the Azimzade Art School at the graduation party in 1950. Back row from right to left: Baba Aliyev, Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya, Tahir Salahov. Front row first on the right: Aliagha Mammadov. From left to right: Mirzaagha Gafarov, Asef Jafarov.
Opening ceremony of Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya’s solo exhibition in Moscow. From right to left: Tahir Salahov, Oleg Savostyuk, Yusif Hüseynov, Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya, Altay Sadigzade, Ogtay Sadigzade, Vagif Verdiyev, Nikolai Ponomarev, 1988.
Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya was an Azerbaijani painter, who devoted her life to depicting the values of the Azerbaijani nation. National pride was always shown in her works, but she also regarded the cultures of other nations with respect. The main feature of her characters and works was a delicate and bright lyric.
Background
Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya was born on October 25, 1930, in Baku, Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, part of Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, Soviet Union (present-day Baku, Azerbaijan). Elmira grew up in a family, devoted to the national traditions, science, education and service to society. Her mother, Leyla, was a granddaughter of South Azerbaijan ruler, Bahman Mirza Gajar, who moved to Shusha in 1847 and who left behind a huge legacy in diplomacy, geography and history.
Leyla, Elmira's mother, graduated from the Girls' Seminary in Tbilisi and worked as a teacher for some time. Elmira's father, Habibulla Şahtaxtinsky, was a notable Azerbaijani chemist and academic.
Many members of Elmira's family became prominent public figures and left their marks in the scientific, diplomatic, medical and cultural history of Azerbaijan. The Şahtaxtinskys, with their innate intellect and interest in foreign languages, travel, knowledge and public service, operated and lived in France, Germany, Turkey, Iran and Iraq in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Education
As a child, Elmira was very interested in traditional art. At home, she could observe the works of decorative and applied art, beautiful household items, carpets, covers, delicate clothes and various decorative items, preserved by her elderly aunt Mehchebin Khanim. With no idea, that she would become an artist, little Elmira used to stare at the strange patterns on Mehchebin’s needlework with admiration. At an early age, Elmira also preferred to create new styles of a dress for the dolls she painted.
Despite the fact, that the war was still far away, there was hunger in Baku and Elmira and her sister were often sent to Aunt Mehchebin in Nakhchivan, where food supplies were a little better than in Baku. In 1945, when World War II finished, Elmira had already turned 15 years old. During the period from 1946 till 1950, she attended the Azim Azimzade Art School in Baku, where Baba Aliyev was one of her teachers.
In 1951, Elmira enrolled at the Faculty of Graphic Arts at the Surikov Moscow State Academic Art Institute, where Mikhail Cheremnikh and Nikolai Ponomarev were her teachers. In 1956, Elmira graduated from the educational establishment. Her student years in Moscow were not only a school of her vocation, but a school of life. She found real friends there. She became familiar with the masterpieces of world culture for the first time.
After studying drawing, composition, painting, etching, lithography, xylography, linocut and illustration at the Surikov Moscow State Academic Art Institute, Elmira continued her education at the political poster studio of the founder of a well-known "ROSTA Windows", as well as her teacher and good friend, Mikhail Cheremnikh.
In 1956, after graduation from the Surikov Moscow State Academic Art Institute, Elmira came back to her native Baku. There, she started to work independently. Şahtaxtinskaya began looking for her own creative style as she wanted to create Azerbaijani posters, that were different from others. She didn’t busy herself with minor events and showed her desire for and interest in the most important creative topics.
The romantic passion of youth, taste and enthusiasm are felt in Elmira's works of the 1960's. This was the beginning of her creative "road" and age of hope. In the 1970's, the painter found her artistic language and subjects. This was the period of research and discovery. Also, it was in the 1970's, that Elmira's admiration for the miniatures of the Tabriz school led her to the creation of series "Azerbaijan is a Country of Ancient Culture". The work was completed only in the 1980's. Here, Şahtaxtinskaya applied her special language to depict emotions on the image with the national form at its foundation. This series was like a graphic encyclopedia of the history of the Azerbaijani people, who had contributed much to world culture. The series was made in poster form, but in fact, it differed greatly from the posters. The portraits, included in this series, are original biographies of artists, musicians, philosophers, astronauts and mathematicians.
In the late 1980's, Elmira began to paint more landscapes. In general, the 1980's could be considered the peak of her creativity. This was the time of a new look at the poster, the psychologisation of portrait and dramatization of landscape, giving new sense to the poster via historical context.
The 1990's were a difficult time for Şahtaxtinskaya. It was the time of the collapse of a governmental system and establishment of a new republic, as well as the time of fighting with illness and making new plans. In the years, that followed, Elmira worked hard and was busy with continuous research and her merciless illness.
During her creative career, Elmira always stuck to a principal issue - a sincere closeness to her subject. Over forty intensively creative working years, Elmira created more than 100 posters. These works, dedicated to labour, peace, war and the moral and physical culture of humanity, call on a viewer to take personal responsibility. Elmira also created numerous portraits of cultural figures, including those of Muslim Magomayev, a composer, Huseyn Javid, a poet and playwright, Arif Malikov, a composer, among others.
During her career, the painter also had public duties: she served as an art editor at "Azemeshr" (Azerbaijan Publishing House), head artist at the State Media and Printing Committee, an active member of the Union of Artists of the USSR and Azerbaijan, a member of the Artistic Council of the Ministry of Culture of the USSR and a commission member of the "Poster" publishing house of Trans-Caucasus under the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Elmira was often invited to All-Union poster contests as a jury member. Participation in All-Republic and All-Union exhibitions was also among the most important engagements for her. She gave interviews to the media and was at the center of events in the art world.
During her lifetime, Şahtaxtinskaya had several exhibitions, held in different cities, including Kaunas (1967), Baku (1978 and 1989-1990), Nakhchivan (1979), and Moscow (1988).
Until her last days, Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya continued to work, develop creative plans and amidst her family she struggled for life.
Elmira Şahtaxtinskaya was a well-known poster painter, who gained prominence for her work, that saw nature, creative people, culture, people’s traditions and humanity as its subjects. Her prominent works include "To All Humanity" series and "Azerbaijan is a Country of Ancient Culture" series.
Şahtaxtinskaya’s works were displayed in Baku, Moscow, Nakhchivan, Kaunas, Prague, Sofia, Stockholm, London, Budapest, Ulan-Bator, Berlin, Warsaw, Vienna, Amsterdam, Paris (Pompidou Centre), Rome, Cairo, Baghdad, Damascus, Tokyo and Helsinki.
The painter's works were awarded with professional prizes. In 1963, Elmira was awarded the title of the Honored Art Worker of the Azerbaijan SSR and the People's Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR in 1977 for her work in the fine arts. In 1957, she also attained the 1st Class Medal and Laureate’s Diploma at the Azerbaijan Youth Festival.
The essence of Elmira's posters was the creation of a psychological portrait of a character. This character was supposed to be not a generalized one, but a specific and definite. Her poster could be read and understood clearly because the author had studied completely the character’s physiology. The painter seemed to draw an image of a very familiar person. Thus, the poster had a huge emotional effect on the viewer.
Colours were felt strongly by Elmira. They contributed to the formation of a mood of the painter, by means of which she could resolve complex issues in her work. Her posters, depicting a poultry woman among yellow-beaked chicks ("Let’s feed with care") or a shepherd with a face, roughened by the wind and burned under the sun ("I will raise without loss") or a young collective farm woman with a cabbage in her hand, and other works, are very close in spirit, bright decorative art and topicality.
Elmira believed, that beauty is about the humanities. Therefore, she often depicted mankind’s great humanists, such as Nizami, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Moliere, Beethoven, Balzac, Pushkin, Hemingway and Einstein. Elmira was also inspired by the masterpieces of Giotto and Botticelli, Sultan Muhammad and Behzad, Rafael and Leonardo, Marquet and Matisse. Picasso’s political posters, Hokusai’s romanticism in his philosophical engravings and the indestructible immortality of Sumerian and Egyptian sculptures attracted her as well.
Elmira always preferred to paint on location. Many of her sketches show, how she was demanding of herself. She traveled a lot through Azerbaijan, the Soviet Union and other parts of the world. She reflected the rhythmic and lyrical landscapes of the suburbs of Moscow, London, Prague and Stockholm, the shores of the Black Sea, Zagatala and Gadabey in her works with strong composition and delicate colouring. Enthusiasm, fun, great inspiration and the freshness of nature are characteristic features of her landscapes. Painting landscapes was an irresistible necessity, like breathing and thinking for her and she created landscape drawings everywhere - during foreign trips, looking through the window of a hospital ward, at a dacha on the seashore, even at less suitable times.
Also, she created sad, quiet landscapes, which still stand out for their high artistic value, beauty and sensitive poetry, and they fascinate the viewer. These works have a rich atmosphere, sensual internal space, environment and life of their own.
Quotations:
"People can understand a poster faster, because it is very simple and clear. But a poster artist should think for a long time and work hard to achieve this simplicity. Conviction (a strong belief in the subject), sincerity and persistence are needed first of all. Like a barometer, a poster reflects developments in itself and conveys feelings objectively. It is simple and natural. The main feature of this work is its reflection of the essence and secondary details are avoided. The real work of art is created from a deep enthusiasm for the events, from firm belief and positive attitude. Here, the convention arises from necessity, clarity of aim and desire to convince the onlooker of the idea. A true poster is created by belief in the subject and a personal approach."
Personality
Elmira was a painter of huge energy, talent and enthusiasm for creation. She was principled, noble, diligent, benevolent and a stranger to indifference, basing her view of life in creativity and opposing injustice.
Şahtaxtinskaya was fond of nature and people. She enjoyed contact and communication with people, high mountains, greenery and clouds and took their colour into her work. Her love of life was very clear in her drawings. She looked for beauty in everything and encouraged the viewer to share her love of it.
Quotes from others about the person
"This girl from Azerbaijan earned huge respect from the teachers during her study years at Moscow State Art Institute. Respected Soviet graphic artist and teacher Cheremnikh distinguished this persistent, clear-headed and talented student from the others. He would invite Elmira to his house and engage in lengthy conversations on art and life. Undoubtedly, this kindness had a great impact on Shahtakhtinskaya’s development, first as a human and also as an artist." - an excerpt from a 1967 edition of the "Bakinsky Rabochy" ("Baku Worker") newspaper
"E. Shahtakhtinskaya’s works are full of a huge love for life and human labour. In content, they are fine and poetic. One looks at these posters as artistic creations." - M. Zhukov, the USSR People’s Artist
Connections
Şahtaxtinskaya was married to Ogtay Sadigzade, a painter. Ogtay, formerly working on book graphics, also worked on the colourful characters of state and cultural figures. As he was a son of great personalities - the poetess Umgulsum and writer Seyid Huseyn, who contributed significantly to Azerbaijani literature despite undergoing repression in 1937 - literary topics and the characters of poets and writers were closer to him.
People’s Artist, Ogtay Sadigzade, was not only a husband and colleague, but also a friend to Elmira. They worked together against incurable illness, the blow, that struck the young woman, and over those long years, they enjoyed mutual respect and feelings of love and devotion to each other. They lived their creative research in the arts and their successes together. The couple had a son, named Altay, who stepped into his parents' shoes and became a painter.
Elmira and her son Altay always had a close relationship. They were usually together in workshops, exhibitions or when they traveled to Absheron to find landscapes in nature. Together, they toured Azerbaijan and the USSR and went to Moscow every year for medical examinations.
Father:
Habibulla Şahtaxtinsky
child:
Altay Sadigzade
Great-grandfather:
Bahman Mirza Gajar
husband:
Ogtay Sadigzade
mentor:
Mikhayil Cheremnikh
Mikhayil Cheremnikh was not only Elmira's mentor, but also a good friend. Recalling Cheremnikh, Elmira used to speak about her teacher’s extraordinary kindness, his friendship with Mayakovsky and Budakov, as well as how he loved and educated his students as if they were his own children.
mentor:
Baba Aliyev
mentor:
Nikolai Ponomarev
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.
