Fuad Abdurahmanov was a prominent Azerbaijani-born Soviet sculptor. His monumental works, depicting distinguished cultural figures, heroes and ordinary working people, symbolize the achievements of his native country's past.
Background
Fuad Abdurahmanov was born on May 11, 1915, in Nukha, Azerbaijan, Russian Empire (present-day Shaki, Azerbaijan). He was a son of Hasan Jafar oglu Abdurahmanov, a civil servant. In 1929, the Abdurahmanovs family settled down in Yevlakh and later moved to Baku.
Education
In 1929, Fuad began to attend the Art School in Baku in order to study sculpture. In 1932, he finished school. During the period from 1935 till 1940, Abdurahmanov studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg, where Matvey Manizer and Viktor Sinaiski were his mentors.
During the years, when Fuad was a student, his works were shown at different art exhibitions and attracted the attention of art lovers, as well as his teachers.
Career
In 1934, Fuad's first independent work, entitled "Shot", was shown at the exhibition and scientific conference, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the poet Ferdowsi. This work portrayed Rustam Zal, the hero of Ferdowsi’s "Shahname", shooting an arrow at the enemy. The figure, created by the sculptor in the statue composition, not only describes Ferdowsi’s main character but also personifies an Azerbaijani medieval warrior. The work later became a permanent exhibit at the National Art Museum of Azerbaijan, named after Rustam Mustafayev.
In the mid-1930's, Fuad created portraits of prominent cultural and art figures, as well as working people of Azerbaijan. The portraits of Mirza Fatali Akhundzade, Asef Zeynalli, Abdurrahim bey Hagverdiyev and Uzeyir Hajibeyli, mostly busts, showed the young sculptor’s ability to convey psychological depth. These portraits, realistic in style, did not yet give any indication, that the young sculptor possessed a particular vision of shape or independent style. The only thing he wanted was to achieve the realism of portraits, made from plaster casts and completed in bronze. The sculptor's specific "visual angle" and originality of character are not yet apparent in these portraits, which are thoroughly objective. Despite the fact, that these works met all the academic standards, they were a little weak in original artistic expression.
In 1938, Abdurahmanov started working on Fuzûlî’s statue, opening a pantheon of eminent Azerbaijani poets and writers, established on Nizami Museum’s loggia in Baku. After graduation from the Imperial Academy of Arts in 1940, Fuad returned to Baku and began to demonstrate his brilliant talent. His skills were appreciated by his teachers, prominent sculptors Matvei Manizer and Viktor Sinaiski. Fuad gradually attracted art specialists' attention by representing his small compositions at fine art exhibitions and practiced different sculpture techniques. In general, the 1930's were the time, when the sculptor started to follow his own artistic path, presenting his independently created works to the public.
In the early stages of his career, Fuad worked on small-scale sculptures, particularly portraits, the most popular genre of the time after monumental work. In the new Soviet state, monuments to contemporary and historical figures were constructed in order to promote their role and position in society and win people’s support. This central direction of state ideology opened new horizons for sculptors.
Between 1942 and 1948, Fuad served as a teacher at the Azim Azimzade College of Art in Baku. Approximately at that time, he began to create works of a larger format and more complex compositions. He created bas-reliefs of various heroic personalities, as well as a number of busts of heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Fuad's portrait busts praised the subjects' sincerity, love and devotion to their motherland. Besides heroic characters, he also represented cultural and artistic figures.
In 1949, Fuad's monument to Nizami Ganjavi was erected in Baku. The monument is regarded as the most successful statue of the 1940's for its form. It exercised substantial influence on the later development of Azerbaijani sculpture. The character of the great poet, humanist and thinker, created by the sculptor, embodies such moral particularities, as simplicity, rigidity and wisdom, that are most highly valued by Azerbaijani people.
The long-term research, done for the creation of the monument of Nizami Ganjavi, defined Abdurahmanov’s future range of interest and increased his interest in the characters of the great medieval poets and philosophers. This line of creativity led Fuad to deeper desires to plunge into medieval poetry, the art of the miniature, carpet-making and the richness of decorative art. In studying the masterpieces of the classic art, poetry and science of the Muslim East, the sculptor became a researcher-artist, as well as a master of the form.
Abdurahmanov's career after the Great Patriotic War evolved both quantitatively and qualitatively. Human subjects in the sculptor’s works underwent deeper psychological and artistic considerations. Fuad began to express the nature and inner lives of his subjects.
Fuad's career reached a peak of professionalism and maturity in the 1950's-1960's. These were the years when the sculptor’s most successful and popular works were presented to the public. When the new political and cultural environment paved the way for independent artistic expression and allowed the appearance of the art, free of the stereotypes of Soviet ideology, Fuad Abdurahmanov was prominent among the new wave of artists. He went on to create a number of successful portraits of art figures. These works included the portraits of a skillful and popular architect Mikayil Useynov, prominent theatre artist Rustam Mustafayev and Sattar Bahlulzade, young and unknown to many at the time, but distinguished for his unique talent, as well as portraits of other leading contemporary artists.
During his career, Fuad devoted his work not only to prominent figures but also to ordinary people. In his portraits of simple people, he highlighted the subjects' dignity, inner pride, distinct personality, humane qualities and conveyed their visual beauty. A bright example of this kind of work is the statue of a prominent cotton planter and Hero of Socialist Labour - Basti Baghirova. Her wisdom, firm will, and delicate female features are expressed skillfully in the face of an ordinary laborer, which also reflects inner moral harmony and great dignity.
In 1951, Fuad's monument, "Azerbaijani Woman", appeared as a symbol of Azerbaijan’s past and future. A modern Azerbaijani woman with an active role in the country’s social life was defined as a character, determining the moral and social image of new generations. In this work, Fuad Abdurahmanov depicted the character of modern Azerbaijani woman as a strong, independent and rich personality.
In the mid-1950's, Fuad returned to bust portraiture. These portraits, however, were substantially different from the works he created in the 1930's. His experience as a sculptor and development of a new idea about the character of sculpture were behind these changes. A tendency towards the monumental had already begun to appear in his busts. Creative desires, combined with the sculptor’s masterly skill, as well as broad imagination and selfless endeavour brought him success.
It also was in the mid-1950's, that Fuad was instructed to erect V. I. Lenin’s bust in the vestibule of the Azerbaijan Museum of History. The portrait-bust in white marble is distinguished by simplicity, concision and balance. Of course, a statue of the leader of the October revolution had to be commissioned only from the most talented sculptors. The choice of Abdurahmanov confirmed, that the sculptor was respected by the government and the Union of Artists.
In the 1960's, Fuad continued to create successful monuments, as well as portraits. The sculptures, both large and small, that he created in these years, were well received for their richness of form, characterisation and convincing appearance. One of these works was "Protecting the Southern Borders" (1965), a figurative composition, representing the guards. The cast monument describes the figure of a border-guard, serving the country and protecting its borders. For some time, Abdurahmanov voluntarily lived with border troops in order to plunge himself into their work. This experience resulted in a highly realistic depiction of the character of these guardians of his homeland.
In the second half of the 1960's, Abdurahmanov returned to busts. Experimenting with various materials, colours and textures, he chose the material and color, which was appropriate for each new character. The colors and texture of the materials, that were used to create the monuments, helped to open up a character and enrich it. These nuances were applied during the process of creation of the bust of Hero of the Soviet Union, Mehdi Huseyzade (Mikhailo), made in 1966.
The sculptor's last works included Fuad's "Self-portrait" and a monument, appraising the personality of the philosopher Abu Ali ibn Sina (Avicenna).
Politics
In 1962, Fuad became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.