After graduating from Azerbaijan State School of Art in 1941, he studied at All-Union State Institute of Cinematography in Moscow, in 1949–1953, and studied at the Leningrad Institute of Art, Sculpture and Architecture named after I.E.Repin in 1953–1956.

[1] Mahmud Taghiyev was married to painter Khalida Safarova in 1946 and had been a member of the Union of Artists of Azerbaijan since that year.

[2] The main themes of Mahmud Taghiyev's early creativity were still life and landscape paintings.

[3] "Apricots" (1969), "Figs" (1974), "Balcony" (1987), "Still Life", "Spring Flowers" (1993), "Tulips", "Apples" (1993), "Majnun", "Leyli", "Flowers in the vase", "Spring in the mountains", "Baku", "Oil refinery plant lights", "Avarchakan", "Sleep", "Naked", "Dada Gorgud", "Samad Vurgun", "Seven beautiful" are famous works of the painter.

[2] His works have been exhibited in Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, UK, France, Germany, Iran, Syria and Egypt.