To commemorate a luminary of the national school of painting, People’s Artist of Turkmenistan Aikhan Khajiev, who would have turned 95, the Museum of Fine Arts, is currently exhibiting his best works.
Among those attending the exhibition’s opening ceremony were Aikhan Khajiev’s family: his daughter, son and five grandchildren, as well as his pupils, friends, fellow artists, and students of the State Academy of Arts.
Aikhan Khajiev went down in history as an artist who painted a canonic portrait of Magtymguly while studying at V.I.Surikov Moscow State Art Institute.The young artist was working on the portrait so committedly and painstakingly that once, according to his son, Toily Khajiev, he had a dream about Magtymguly. “It is time to stop struggling with the portrait.
Here I am.Take a close look at me”, Magtymguly said to the young painter, who fell asleep in a gym converted into his studio, feeling emotional and physical strains.
Aikhan Khajiev’s portrait of Magtymguly, depicted with an exalted face at the moment of composing a new poem, was named the best.It was also approved by the poet’s relatives, who came to thank the artist personally.
By the way, the portrait is part of the Museum’s permanent collection and is on view in its main hall.On the exhibition’s opening day devoted admirers placed a vase of flowers in front of the painting Magtymguly’ in affectionate tribute to Aikhan Khajiev.
Among Aikhan Khajiev’s other works on permanent display at the Museum is “The Age-Old Dream Comes True” devoted to the builders of the Garagum Canal meandering through golden sand dunes like a blue ribbon and bringing life to the desert.
The painting portrays a white-bearded elder (yashuly), who scoops up some life-giving water from the canal with his cupped hands, watching with excitement the precious liquid run through his fingers, since a drop of water is believed to be worth a grain of gold.
The painting exudes the energy of dramatic change in our sunshine-rich country.Aikhan Khajiev is considered one of the best painters of his generation.His legacy is invaluable as it is closely connected with the destiny of his country and its people.
The master artist’s works are noted for their meaningful context and scale.Their emotionality is not the show of bravura but rather metaphorical.One of the most vivid examples is The First Teacher’ created in 1974.
Taking no notice of the oppressive heat, a young teacher is unhesitatingly climbing scorching hot sand dunes, leading a bridled camel fully laden with heavy piles of books and other school supplies.
Like the man, the camel is walking showing no signs of tiredness with its head proudly raised as if knowing that the goods are immensely helpful to people in remote villages on their path to knowledge.
The teacher is associated with the artist himself, whose life was full of creative pursuits and dedicated to his chosen profession.A painting entitled Mummy, why are you crying?’ makes viewers feel deep empathy for its characters.
In a room lit by a dim oil lamp, a woman is lovingly embracing a Soviet Army-styled shirt of her husband killed in the war.With bitter tears rolling down her sorrowful face, she is weeping over the death of her husband, who will never come back home to hug her and their children.
The woman bursts into tears at night, when her little ones are asleep.This time her daughter has suddenly woken up to witness her mother’s suffering.The small girl’s yell “Mummy, why are crying?!” is clearly conveyed with subtle details and caught with deft brushstrokes...
The well-known work Science Put at The Disposal of Cotton Growers’ is frequently on exhibition.Each character of the easel painting is vividly portrayed, be it a cotton breeder, or a collective-farm chairman, or laboratory workers, or cotton producers.
All of them are such charismatic personalities that they could go on display at a portrait gallery.With a quick glimpse of the painting, viewers are taken back in time to the 1950s, a period known as the Thaw.
Warm golden hues and smiles on the people’s faces accurately reflect the spirit of the times.Mesmerizing with its exquisite poetic expression, At the Threshing Floor” has something in common with the above-mentioned painting.
It boasts an array of metaphors, thanks to which the trivial depiction of a cotton harvest time transforms into a philosophical reflection of the beauty of work and youth...
Bakhar’, another famous painting by Aikhan Khajiev, features a beautiful young girl.It is difficult to figure out whether Bakhar is the girl’s name, which translates as spring’, or it is the spring epitomized by the girl sitting on a terrace overlooking a garden of blossoms, ablaze in shades of pink and purple.
Aikhan Khajiev’s oeuvre left a lasting mark on national painting, having expanded a conception of realism and enriched it with a philosophical and poetic world view.He rejoiced, showed surprise, worked, loved and empathized with his characters sincerely and convincingly...