Background

Reyhan Topchubashova was born on December 15, 1905, Quba, Baku Governorate, Russian Empire (currently the part of Azerbaijan).

Education

Reyhan Topchubashova revealed passion and abilities for art and music at an early age. After attending girls' school of Zeynalabdin Taghiyev for a while, Topchubashova entered the piano faculty of Azerbaijan State Conservatoire (currently Hajibeyov Baku Academy of Music) in 1923. She never received a diploma dropping her studies in order to devote herself to family life and to bring up her first-born, a son Ibrahim.

Later, Reyhan Topchubashova attended the lectures of professional artists and developed her skills sketching with colors or ink. In 1933, she became a third-year student of the Azim Azimzade Art School and graduated two years later.

Career

Reyhan Topchubashova started her career as an artist after graduation from Azim Azimzade Art School in 1935. Since then, trustworthiness and realism became essential elements of her canvases.

The first solid piece of work, ‘Wedding’, was done the same year. A harmonically colored graduation work, it accurately reflected the national spirit of Azerbaijan showing the tiny pieces of its culture, including costumes and characters’ gestures. The painting was demonstrated at the exhibition the year after creation. Another important work of the period became an oil canvas ‘The Old Baku Street’ which recaptured the atmosphere of the pre-revolutionary Baku.

In addition to the motherland theme, Topchubashova also touched the topic of freedom for woman. Through such works like ‘Women of Ali Bayramov club presenting a flag to Kirov’ and ‘A portrait of saviour of emancipated Azerbaijani woman’, she showed the historical path that the weaker sex made to achieve emancipation.

Reyhan Topchubashova demonstrated her artistic talent in portraiture as well. The portraits of a ballet dancer Gamar Almaszade, writers Mirza Alakbar Sabir and Samad Vurgun are among the valuable examples in the genre. The love to her motherland was reflected in such landscape paintings like ‘Shahdagh’, ‘The sea’, ‘The Maiden Tower under the moonlight’, and ‘Sunrise in mist’ to name a few.

The great success was the works the artist created inspired by classic literature and poetry like it was with ‘Khamsa’ by Nizami Ganjavi.

In 1938, Topchubashova tried her hand in set design. From that time on, the artist produced a great number of national costume sketches for dancers and worked in set design as well. The same year, she was among the initiators of the first exhibition of female paintings in Azerbaijan held on March 8, 1938, on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

Achievements

• Reyhan Topchubashova was a talented artist who was praised for her ability to create vital genre scenes, portraits, and landscapes which uncovered the richness of Azerbaijani heritage. That is why many of her canvases, like ‘Wedding’ or ‘The old Baku Street’, have a status of historically valuable artifacts.
  
  She was the first artist in Azerbaijan who produced a painting in the social realism style, ‘Mina khala – first propagandist woman’.
  
  On July 10, 1943, Reyhan Topchubashova was the first female Azerbaijani artist who received the title of Honored Art Worker for her contributions to the development of Fine Arts.
  
  Topchubashova’s artworks are acquired by such permanent collections like Azerbaijan National Museum of Art and Azerbaijan State Theatre Museum named after Jafar Jabbarli.

Works

More photos

• painting

  • Wedding Sketch

    (Azerbaijan National Museum of Art)

  • Female Figure. Sketch to Wedding

    (Azerbaijan National Museum of Art)

  • Sketch to Wedding

    (Azerbaijan National Museum of Art)

  • Sketch to Wedding

    (Azerbaijan National Museum of Art)

  • Veiled Bride Sketch to Wedding

    (Azerbaijan National Museum of Art)

  • Wedding Sketch

    (Azerbaijan National Museum of Art)

  • Wedding Sketch

    (Azerbaijan National Museum of Art)

  • Wedding Sketch

    (Azerbaijan National Museum of Art)

  • Wedding Sketch

    (Azerbaijan National Museum of Art)

  • Old Baku Street

    (Azerbaijan National Museum of Art)

  • Portrait of a Ballet Dancer Gamer Almaszade

    (Azerbaijan National Museum of Art)

  • Wedding

    (Azerbaijan National Museum of Art)

Membership

Reyhan Topchubashova served as a deputy chairman of the board of Union of Artists of Azerbaijan from 1941 to 1945.

• Union of Artists of Azerbaijan , Azerbaijan

  1941 - 1945

Personality

A woman with strong organizational skills, Reyhan Topchubashova was widely involved in social activity.

Connections

Reyhan Topchubashova married an Azerbaijani surgeon Mustafa Topchubashov in 1923. The family produced three children, a son Ibrahim, and twin girls Elmira and Zemfira.

Ibrahim and Zemfira followed their father’s steps and became doctors. Elmira engaged herself in music and serves as an assistant professor at Baku Academy of Music.

husband:

Mustafa Topchubashov

Son:

Ibrahim Topchubashov

Daughter:

Elmira Topchubashova

Daughter:

Zemfira Topchubashova

Friend:

Gamar Almaszadeh

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.
  2013