Mulberry tree 1965

Editor: So, here we have Sattar Bahlulzade's "Mulberry Tree" from 1965, painted with acrylics. It feels very dreamlike. The colours are intense, yet… almost subdued in a way? There’s a real push and pull with those expressive brushstrokes, especially in the pinks of the ground and the blues of the sky. What do you see in this piece, beyond just the landscape? Curator: Oh, it's far from just a landscape, isn’t it? Bahlulzade doesn’t just *paint* a mulberry tree; he *becomes* the mulberry tree. He embodies it. That swirling paint, those clashing colours…they speak of inner turmoil, but also an undeniable vitality. It’s as if the tree is wrestling with the elements, but still defiantly reaching for the sky. Does it remind you of anyone's paintings, say van Gogh's? Editor: I can definitely see the similarities with Van Gogh! The heavy brushstrokes, the emotion... it's there for sure. Do you think this feeling is because of the colours as well? Curator: Precisely. Notice the almost violent contrast – those near-black tree canopies against the sugary pinks of the ground. And that wild blue sky throbbing above! Bahlulzade isn’t showing us a calm pastoral scene; he is capturing a force of nature. I see longing for something, a feeling almost like nostalgia. Editor: So, you’re saying that through this tree, Bahlulzade is expressing not just what he *sees*, but how he *feels* about his place in the world? Curator: Exactly! Each stroke feels deeply personal. Maybe even painful. The colours suggest memories and emotions, transformed onto the canvas, demanding to be felt. A raw, unflinching expression of the soul laid bare. Editor: Wow, I hadn't considered all of that. I guess it's easy to get caught up in the colours and brushstrokes and miss the emotional depth. Curator: Absolutely. Art is often like that, a surface to be decoded, an echo of a forgotten experience. And that is the beauty of discovering an artist and their artworks, one piece at a time.