Ancient Shamakhy 1971

Sattar Bahlulzade made this landscape, Ancient Shamakhy, with oil on canvas. There’s something so immediate and raw about the strokes in this painting, isn’t there? You can almost feel Bahlulzade’s hand moving across the canvas. It's all thick paint and bold colors. The landscape unfolds with a kind of rhythmic energy – mountains looming in the background and then those bright red trees. I imagine Bahlulzade outdoors with the canvas propped up – squinting at the sun, trying to capture the light just so. There’s a real physicality to the paint application – it’s not just about representation, it's about the act of making. Look at how he uses color to create depth and dimension. It’s like he’s inviting us to step into this world, but also reminding us that it’s a painting, an illusion. Bahlulzade's paintings feel like a conversation with artists like Van Gogh, who also embraced the emotional potential of landscape. Painting becomes a way of experiencing and understanding our place in the world, and it reminds me that art-making is a kind of alchemy.