Samedova, Vajiya Ali Kizi

Vajiya Ali kyzy Samedova was born on November 24, 1924 in Baku ^[1] in the family of confectioner Karbalai Ali and the housewife Rubaba Samedov. The father of Samedova Karbalai Ali was an Azerbaijani from Kars . He and his brother moved to Erivan , and from there to Baku, where, in the Icheri Sheher quarter, he met Rubaba, who had moved to Baku with his family from the Iranian city ​​of Qum . The couple also had other children, but only Vajiya and her sister Solmaz survived ^[2] .

In 1944 she graduated from the Azerbaijan State Art School named after A. Azimzade, and in 1951 - V.I. Surikov Moscow Art Institute ^[1] . The graduate work of the artist was a group portrait of Azerbaijan composers ^[3] .

Vadzhiya Samedova worked mainly on portraits, landscapes and thematic displays. She created the images of her contemporaries in portraits such as “Actress L. Bedirbeyli” (1954), “Hero of Socialist Labor S. Kerimov” (1957), “Geologist M. Mammadbeyli” (1959), “Twice Hero of Socialist Labor S. Hasanov "(1960)," Sculptor G. Abdullaev "(1964) and others. ^[1]

Samedova traveled a lot in the republic ^[4] . Rich landscapes, conciseness and clarity of composition are distinguished by its landscapes and thematic displays, among which there are such as “Azerbaijan Composers” (1951), “Song” (1956), “On the Goygol Beach” (1957), “On the Kura Bank” (1961), "Waiting for the News" (1963), "Geologists" (1965) ^[1] .

In addition to creative activities, Vadzhiya Samedova was also engaged in public and educational activities. Samedova’s works were also exhibited at foreign exhibitions organized in Vienna , Cairo , Beirut , Warsaw , Berlin , Budapest , Sofia and other cities ^[4] . In 1962, Samedova was given a separate workshop ^[2] .

Samedova died on October 24, 1965 in Baku ^[1] from a long illness. Of her own free will she was buried in a common Muslim cemetery ^[2] . At the end of 1966 in Baku, in the Art Salon of the Union of Artists of Azerbaijan , a posthumous exhibition of the artist’s works was opened. About 200 works of Samedova were collected at the exhibition: portraits, genre paintings, landscapes, still lifes, oil, watercolors, pastels, pencils ^[5] .

Samedova’s works are kept in the National Museum of Art of Azerbaijan in Baku and other museums of the republic. In Baku, there is the Vajiya Samedova Exhibition Salon ^[6] (the former Art Salon of the Union of Artists of Azerbaijan) ^[4] .

Portraits

Despite the fact that Samedova worked in several genres, she gained fame precisely as a portrait painter. According to art historian Rasim Efendiyev , the works of Vadzhiya Samedova reflect both bright talent and the artist’s enormous energy and ability to work. The most important thing for Samedova, according to Efendiev, was to reveal the peculiar character of the portrait, which is felt not only in easel portraits, but also in small sketches made by the artist for the paintings ^[5] . Samedova proved herself as a portrait painter already in her thesis (1951), on which she depicted a group of Azerbaijani composers at the time of friendly discussion ^[3] .

Examples of works in which Samedova showed herself to be a good portrait painter, who created original characters by painting, Efendiev calls the portraits of Bedirbeyli , the cotton box Sureya Kerimova , Shamama Hasanova , the geologist Minira Mammadbeyli (1961), the daughter of Fatima (1964) ^[5] . Art critics Nureddin Gabibov and Mursal Najafov call the portrait of Leyla Bedirbeyli the luck of Samedova. According to the authors, this work was written easily and boldly, with mature painting skill. According to art critics, a dreamily pensive facial expression was well found in the portrait, and the tonic color relations of the gray and black tones of the dress and silver background were successfully selected ^[3] . This work Samedova performed in the house of the actress. and in the process of writing she created dozens of sketches ^[2] .

Vadzhiya Samedova, as noted by Efendiev, had his own approach to working on portraits. So, for each portrait, she created five or six sketches, portrayed a portrait in different settings. In some cases, between her first sketch from nature and the final version of the same portrait took more than two to three years ^[5] .

Despite the fact that her portraits were painted from specific individuals (cotton growers, milkmaids, etc.), they were usually of a generalized nature. the artist avoided depicting the attributes of production. Through the character of the portrait, Samedova conveyed what she wanted to say about the person. For example, in the portrait of the cotton boxer Sureya Kerimova, Samedova portrayed her hero in a laid-back pose, standing at the fence. In this work, according to Efendiev, Samedova was able to successfully find a pose and fix the transitional moment of movement. Of particular dynamism and attractiveness to the portrait, according to Efendiev, is that looking at the portrait the viewer has the impression that Kerimova stood at the fence and looked forward, but suddenly turned to the viewer for a minute ^[4] .

Especially vital and believable, as noted by Efendiev, make the portraits of Samedova not frozen, but as if in motion figures. Vadzhiya Samedova differed in the manner of writing. Thanks to the wide and sweeping strokes, Samedova managed to create a human figure and gradually turn it with her movement to the viewer ^[4] .

Landscapes, still lifes and thematic canvases

In such landscapes as “Mount Kapaz”, “Mausoleum of Nizami” (1956), “In the vicinity of Mingachevir” (1957), “On Lake Gok-Gel” (1958), “In the vicinity of Dashkesan” (1965), many according to Rasim Efendiev, exultant vigor ^[4] .

Due to the fact that Samedova suffered from an incurable disease, she sometimes could not write and especially travel and work outdoors. But even in those works that were written in the workshop, according to Efendiev, one feels the same “sunny freshness of painting and optimism”. Efendiev calls the still lifes “Fruits”, “Quince”, etc., examples of such works, in which the artist admires the beauty and generosity of nature ^[4] .

The portrait is the dominant part of the composition in Samedova’s thematic canvases, for example, in such works as “Waiting”, “Songs”, “On the bank of the Kura”, “Waiting for a message” ^[4] .

One of the last works of Samedova, written in 1963, "Waiting for the News" is unusual for the artist’s creativity dramatic. In the harsh images of girls who are waiting for the return of their fathers, fishermen from the sea, Samedova managed to convey stamina, patience and at the same time tension and hidden anxiety. According to preserved preparatory materials, most of all Samedova worked on key images of the picture, the figures of two girls. Many sketches for these figures were preserved in the workshop of Samedova, reviewing which, it becomes clear how their images and character changed in the process of working on the work. The figures of the girls, the earth, as well as the boats scattered by the storm along its picturesque molding are dense, juicy and material ^[4] .

In 1944, Vadzhiya Samedova married the artist Latif Feizullaev . In 1945, the couple had a son Nijat , who later became a film director. In 1955, the daughter of Fatima was born ^[2] .

• Gabibov N., Najafov M. Art of Soviet Azerbaijan. - M .: Art , 1960 .-- S. 199.
• Nәҹәfov M. Вәҹиһә Сәмәдова (azerb.) . - B. , 1966.
• Rasim Effendi . Vadzhiya Samedova // Art . - 1967.
• Efendiev R. Vadzhiya Samedova. - M. , 1970.
• Smәdova Vәҹiһә Əli gizi // Azerbaijan Soviet Encyclopedia / Ed. J. Kulieva. - 1984. - T. VIII .