Maral Rahmanzadeh facts for kids

Maral Rahmanzade (born Maral Yusif gizi Rahmanzade; 1916–2008) was a famous Azerbaijani artist. She was known for her amazing graphic art. She was even named a "People's Artist" of Azerbaijan in 1964 and won a special State Prize for her work.

Life and Art of Maral Rahmanzade

Maral Rahmanzade was born on July 23, 1916. Her hometown was Mardakan, a small place near Baku, Azerbaijan. She loved art from a young age.

Early Education and Graphic Arts

From 1930 to 1933, Maral studied at the Azerbaijan State Technical School of Arts. Later, from 1934 to 1940, she went to the Moscow State Institute of Arts. Her favorite way to create art was through graphic arts. This included techniques like lithography and colored linoprints.

Art During World War II

During World War II, Maral Rahmanzade created many patriotic artworks. These showed her love for her country. One series of paintings honored Soviet women during the war. It included works like "People's volunteer corps" and "Women in the ranks." Other paintings showed people working hard at home to support the war. These included "Work on the farm" and "Wives Substitute Husbands." These paintings were often made with black watercolors and charcoal.

Illustrating Books

In the 1940s, Maral also illustrated many books. In 1945, she drew pictures for "Dehname" by Khatai. She also illustrated "The land of fires" by Zohrabbeyov. She was especially good at showing the feelings of women in "Dehname." She even drew the poet Khatai himself, showing him writing at night. Maral also added many details like landscapes, buildings, and costumes to "The land of fires." She also illustrated "Maiden Tower" and "Gulzar" by Jafar Jabbarly.

Art Inspired by Oil Fields

After the war, Maral Rahmanzade focused more on paintings. In 1947, she showed a series of 10 paintings called "Petroleum." These pictures told the story of Azerbaijan's oil industry. They started with "Fire worshippers," showing people honoring eternal fire. Other paintings showed new oil businesses, oil rigs, and oil gushing from pipes.

In 1948, she completed another series called "Socialistic Baku." This series had 10 paintings. It showed factories, city scenes, and people working on new buildings.

Journey to the Oil Rocks

Maral Rahmanzade was the first artist to visit the "oil rocks" (Neft Daşları). This was a special place where oil was drilled in the Caspian Sea. She lived among the oil workers and saw their daily lives. She painted the sea, the bridges, oil tanks, and towers. Her drawings and watercolors showed the hard work of the oilmen. These paintings were shown to the people of Baku and the oil workers themselves.

She created a series of lithographs called "Here in the Caspian Sea." An album with 15 colorful lithographs from this series was published. Her art showed tall oil towers, steel bridges, and the shiny sea. She also showed the tough life of the workers in paintings like "On-duty boat" and "To a storm-zone." These artworks made Maral Rahmanzade very famous. They were shown in many exhibitions both in the Soviet Union and other countries.

Family Connections

Maral Rahmanzade was the older sister of Vagif Rakhmanov, a sculptor. She was also the aunt of famous Canadian singer Deniz Reno. Her nieces Nargis Rakhmanova-Dressler and Aigul Rakhmanova are also artists.

More Book Illustrations and Travels

In 1950, Maral illustrated a two-volume poetry collection by Jafar Jabbarly. She drew characters from his plays like "Sevil" and "Almaz." She also illustrated "Aldanmish Kevakib" ("Deceived stars") by Mirza Fatali Akhundov. She even illustrated translated books like "Eugene Onegin" by Alexander Pushkin and "A Hero of Our Time" by Mikhail Lermontov.

In the late 1950s, she made a colorful series of lithographs called "Baku." These showed city parks, squares, and oil fields in the sea. This "Baku" series was shown in Moscow in 1959. Around that time, she also created lithographs about Czechoslovakia. These included landscapes like "A winter day of Karlovy Vary" and "A street in Cheb city." These were shown in exhibitions in 1961.

Linocut Art and Azerbaijani Landscapes

Later, Maral Rahmanzade started working with linocut. Her first linocuts showed the big factories in the cities of Sumqayit and Rustavi. Each series had six industrial scenes and two portraits of workers.

In the 1960s, she traveled to many parts of Azerbaijan. These trips led to new series of colorful linocuts called "My Motherland" and "Azerbaijan." Many of these focused on the Nakhchivan region. She drew fields, rivers, and villages. She also showed new roads in the mountains with power lines and beautiful rocks.

She also depicted the remote village of Khinalig in northern Azerbaijan. This village is surrounded by cliffs, with houses built on top of each other. Maral studied the daily lives of the people there. Her linocuts showed the village, snow-covered mountains, steep cliffs, simple buildings, and people in their traditional clothes. In 1956, she illustrated "A Sword and Pen," a historical novel by Mammed Said Ordubadi. In 1963, she illustrated "Azerbaijani fairytales."

Exhibitions and Legacy

In November 2016, the National Museum of Art of Azerbaijan held a special exhibition. It showed Maral Rahmanzade's paintings, lithographs, linoprints, drawings, and book illustrations. You can also see examples of her work at Q Gallery in Baku, near the Maiden Tower.

See also

In Spanish: Maral Rahmanzade para niños