To mark the 100th anniversary of the People's Artist of Turkmenistan Yzzat Gylyjov, an exhibition of paintings by the hero of the day was held at the Exhibition Centre of Fine Arts of the Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan.
The Directorate of Art Exhibitions presented more than 200 paintings and graphic works by the luminary of painting, taken from the funds of the Union of Artists of Turkmenistan, museums and personal collections of the author.
To enhance the festive atmosphere, musicians from Tahyr Atayev’s orchestra performed Turkmen and European classical works. People's Artist of Turkmenistan Gasan Mammedov dedicated his violin performance to the famous hero of the day.
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Both floors of the exhibition centre were filled with bright, expressive paintings that energetically impact the audience. On the first floor, a significant part of the paintings reflected the Turkmen artist’s travels around the world.
Yzzat Nazarovich had a rare ethnographic ability to subtly sense the mentality of another people, their culture, expressed in national clothing, unique architecture, and the specifics of life.
The paintings «Ethiopia», «Havana», «Angola», «Pyongyang» and others with the exoticism emphasized by the artist told about how diverse, colorful and beautiful our world is. The centre of the hall on the first floor was occupied by the monumental painting «Wind of Change», dedicated to the builders Garagum Canal.
Now the Garagum Canal is perceived as usual, but in 1959, when the picture was painted, the builders laying an artificial river bed in Turkmenistan were rightfully considered heroes. Yzzat Gylyjov poetically presented the image of one of the workers.
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This painting, glorifying the heroic work of the canal builders, takes pride of place in the permanent exhibition of the State Museum of Fine Arts.
In the portrait gallery of the exhibition, in paintings depicting the people's writer of Turkmenistan Berdi Kerbabayev and the people's artist of Turkmenistan Bazar Amanov, the author achieved not only maximum similarity with the originals, but using a pose - imposing for Berdi Kerbabayev and inquisitive for Bazar Amanov, he conveyed the character of each of them.
In other portraits, Yzzat Nazarovich added decorative elements to the similarity of the original and obtained an even more charismatic result. The exhibition included two portraits of the hero of the day. One is the work of Durdy Bayramov, the second is a self-portrait. Yzzat Gylyjov is a deeply national artist.
On the canvases he created about his compatriots, red always reigns. Whoever he represented - musicians, dancers, carpet weavers or happy mothers with children - he depicted them with ornamental elements, like a fragment for a large beautiful carpet called «Turkmenistan».
In his famous painting «Physicists», Yzzat Nazarovich presented a memorable image of scientists. He portrayed them as elegant, passionate about their work and renounced by the bustle of everyday life. This is how he saw modern scientists; this is how he was, only they were engaged in science, and he was engaged in art.
One of the exhibition's displays is illustrations of Turkmen folk tales. It’s hard to imagine that such a venerable artist as Yzzat Gylyjov is the author of drawings of fairy-tale characters. And one more touch that very accurately characterizes the artist.
Yzzat Gylyjov is a holder of three orders, which he received for valor shown during the war. But there is not a single work about the war out of the 200 paintings presented. He didn't like to talk about the war.
Yzzat Gylyjov proved himself to be an innovator of Turkmen painting. Any topic he raised had a touch of modern art. His work is an invaluable gift for future generations of Turkmen people.
