Portrait of Mstislav Rostropovich 2000

Tahir Salahov’s portrait of Mstislav Rostropovich renders the cellist with bold, geometric shapes. The color palette is earthy, yet the sharp angles give it a modern, almost cubist feel, don’t you think? Imagine Salahov, brush in hand, circling around his subject, trying to capture not just Rostropovich's likeness but the very essence of his music. The surface of the canvas must have felt like a battlefield of ideas, each stroke a step towards understanding. Look at the way the light catches the curve of the cello! It's almost as if the instrument is breathing, mirroring the cellist’s own passion. I see echoes of Picasso and Braque in Salahov’s work, but he brings his own distinct voice to the conversation. Artists are always responding to what came before, tweaking and twisting, in an endless game of telephone across time. Painting is like that – a continuous back-and-forth, full of questions and possibilities.