Previous spread, clockwise from main picture: Composition #17; the artist Mammad Mustafayev; Absheron; The Bottom of the Earth; and Marjana.
“THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ISN’T THE CONGRATULATIONS OR PRAISE, BUT SEEING PEOPLE’S REACTIONS TO MY PAINTINGS, THE WAY THEIR FACES CHANGE AS THEY GO FROM ONE painted from within the man. For its PAINTING TO ANOTHER.” mysteriousness and fear, I’d choose ANAR YOLCHIYEV Age: 43. Born: Baku, Azerbaijan. Studied at: Azerbaijan State Oil Academy. Describe your style of art. I couldn’t define my style or manner precisely. My landscapes are probably more impressionist, while my portraits and multi-figure compositions are more realist. The important thing is that you should end up with beauty. What’s your all-time favourite piece of art? There isn’t one single work. But certainly Portrait of Pope Innocent X by Velázquez. That portrait was
118 Baku.
Goya’s Witches’ Flight. My favourite large-group painting is Rembrandt’s The Night Watch. My favourite nudes are Velázquez’s Venus and Freud’s Benefits Supervisor Sleeping. There are hundreds of others I could mention… What inspires your work? Different things. Sometimes it’s a girl coming towards me turning her head, sometimes it’s the scent of flowers, but most often it’s a desire to tell and show everyone an entire story. What’s the most memorable exhibition you’ve had work in? Probably my personal exhibition, ‘On Distant Shores’, last December. The most important thing wasn’t the congratulations or praise, but seeing
people’s reactions to my paintings, the way their faces changed as they went from one painting to another. What’s been the highlight of your career so far? About 12 years ago, I exhibited two pastel still-lifes at a spring exhibition for young people. The rector of the Academy of Arts, Eldar Omarov, was at the opening with some teachers and older artists and walked past all the artworks without stopping. But then he stopped beside my work, looked at it for a few seconds, praised it and asked whose it was. Everyone rushed to read the name on the plaque, but all said that it wasn’t one of their students. I felt awkward about going over to them and introducing myself and saying that it was mine.
This page, clockwise from far left: Anar Yolchiyev; and works by the artist entitled Still Life in Blue Tones (2014); and Marlin Hunting (2014).
