Azerbaijani art
This form of art rooted in antiquity, is represented by a wide range of handicrafts, such as chasing (metalworking), jewellery-making, engraving, carving wood, stone and bone, carpet-making, lacing, pattern weaving and printing, and knitting and embroidery.
Many interesting facts pertaining to the development of arts and crafts in Azerbaijan were reported by merchants, travellers and diplomats who visited these places at different times.
Images reflecting magic, totemic notions of ancient people, their religious customs and hunting scenes carved on rocks in Gobustan is evidence of primitive art created in the Paleolithic epoch.
Ornaments on the Momine Khatun Mausoleum in Nakhchivan, constructed in the epoch of the Seljuq and Khanegah on the shore of the Pirsaat River are monuments from that time.
Patterns of stone carving art, geometric and plant ornaments have an important place in buildings belonging to this school of architecture.
The artistic value of "divankhana" (rotunda-pavilion) from the Palace of the Shirvanshahs ensemble "is determined by the perfection of the composition, tectonics of architectural forms, the virtuosity of painting and creation of ornaments" according to L.Bretatsinki and B.Weymarn.
Stones with inscriptions and images of people and animals (tiger, camel, horse, bull and bird) have been found in the Shirvanshahs' architectural monument called Sabayil Castle constructed in the 13th century in Baku Bay.
Ceramic items discovered during archaeological excavations in Shabran and Baylagan provide evidence of the high-level development of visual arts in the Middle Ages.
Archaeological digs in the territory testify to well-developed agriculture, livestock raising, metalworking, pottery and ceramics, and carpet-weaving that date as far back as to the 2nd millennium BC.
Ornamental wall paintings, images of flowers and birds, illustrations to his own manuscripts (Bahr-ul Khazan (The sea of sorrow), 1864) are typical of his creativity.
He is famed for his works in the restoration of the Palace of Shaki Khans, paintings in the interiors of houses in Mehmandarov and Rustamov in Shusha and other cities.
[9] Artists such as Avazali Mughanli (Kalila and Dimna, 1809), Mirza Aligulu (Shahnameh 1850), Najafgulu Shamakhili (Yusuf and Zulaikha, 1887) and others were among the famous Azerbaijani miniature painters of that time.
Iravani, whose works were firmly connected to traditions of the eastern miniature of medieval ages, laid down the foundations of the realistic easel painting in Azerbaijan.
[7] Timur's Portrait by Mir Mohsun Navvab painted with watercolours in 1902 and now housed in the National Art Museum of Azerbaijan in Baku is also famous.
The genre of satiric graphics appeared with the publication of Molla Nasraddin magazine at the beginning of the 20th century and the development of book publishing.
His series of watercolour paintings called Hundred Types, dedicated to freedom of women, atheism and political motifs, and also the illustrations of Mirza Alakbar Sabir's Hophopname collection of works are famous.
Bahruz Kangarli is the first Azerbaijani artist who got a professional education was one of the founders of the realistic easel arts of Azerbaijan He created landscapes such as Ilanly Mountain Under the Moonlight, Before the Dawn and Spring.
[12] In the 1930s, artists such as Azim Azimzade, Farhad Khalilov, H. Khaligov, I. Akhundov, A. Hajiyev, M. A. Vlasov, K. Kazimzade, A. Mammadov and others worked in the graphic design sphere.
But the works of Elbey Rzaguliyev, T. Sadighzade, Arif Huseynov, K. Najafzade and others are dedicated to the historic past, the traditions and customs of Azerbaijani people, to war and peace.
J. Mirjavadova, N. Rahmanova, K. Ahmadova, G. Yunusova, S. Veysova, A. Ibrahimova, I. Mammadova, S. Mirzazade, F. Hashimova, F. Gulamova, A. Samadova and others painted mythological images.
The beginning of the 21st century can be considered as a period of stabilization and revitalization, noted by Teymur Daimi in 2001 for the catalogue of international exhibition published in English and French in Strasbourg in 2002.
[24] In addition, the state program on the "Protection and development of carpet art in the Republic of Azerbaijan 2018–2022" was approved in February 2018 by President Ilham Aliyev.
