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The earliest known distinctive style of Tajik (Persian)  painting dates back to the Seljuk period (11th-13th Century), which is often   referred to as the "Baghdad School". Early painting was mainly used to decorate  manuscripts and versions of the Holy Koran. During the Mongol period (1256 – 1394), paintings were used to decorate all sorts of books.       However, the art of illustration and decoration of illuminated manuscripts which had attained perfection in the Middle Ages, gradually declined, while the masters of decorative art working on architectural monuments confined themselves to the use of conventional devices. It was in such crafts as metalwork, pottery and embroidery associated with the manufacture of household objects, that the national tradition flourished. For many centuries, the creative talent of the Tajik people found its outlet in an unusually wide range of folk art. During the Soviet period, modern contemporary figurative art was born appropriate to a new era. In the 20's the publication of the first political and propaganda posters and illustrated books in the Tajik language as well as the organization of professional training in oil painting, drawing and round sculpture were all connected with Samarqand, one of the Tajiks major culture canters. In the following decades Tajik modern artists began to form into a unified body, and the first modern art school was opened in Dushanbe. Artistic life began to thrive with annual exhibitions, discussions and press articles. It was in this period that fine arts became an integral part of the spiritual and cultural life of Tajikistan. Particular successes were achieved at the end of the 30's. Among them were G. Timkov, a Soviet gifted and subtle painter, B.Chemodurov and V. Furygin, masters of stage design. The artistic achievements of these years were demonstrated at the Ten-Day exhibition of Tajik Art in Moscow in 1941, where painting, sculpture; drawing and folk art were displayed. The war between USSR and nazi Germany interrupted the tempo of economic and cultural development in Tajikistan. However, many artists continued their activity, creating political and propaganda posters, working for the Tajik Telegraph Agency, executing caricatures and drawings, and organizing exhibitions. I.Abdurahmanov, A.Besperstov, D.llyabayev, G. Kuzmin, N. Matasov, M. Shipulin, M.Mukhin, F.Salmanov and V.Stoeva were among the most famous Tajik artists after the World War II.             The Leningrad painters S.Zakharov and M.Zubreeva   played  an important role in the development of modern art in Tajikistan.  An accomplished  master of watercolour and a subtle painter S.Zakharov exercised a considerable  influence on many artists of the Tajik Republic, such as  Abdurahmanov, Rahimov,  Ilyabayev, Haydarov, and Stoeva. Tajikistan became  the theme of the Moscow artist I.Ershov who himself had close connections  with Tajik art. The high point in the artistic development of the Tajik Soviet Republic was the exhibition of work of the previous decade, which opened in Moscow in 1957 and was a great success. The following ten years have turned out to be the most fruitful in the field of Tajik pictorial art. This can be seen in the in/lux of young artists, graduates of the art schools of Moscow and Leningrad, and in the unusually rich and varied quest. It is no coincidence that, for instance, four of  them,  Zukhur Habibullayev, Abdurahman Rahimov, Asror Amindzhanov and  Khushvakhtov, whose painting is the product of the intensive  quest in the whole of  "Soviet art" during recent decades, are not at all similar, both as regards the external aspects of their art and the fundamental principles of their pictorial and aesthetic interpretation of reality. The temperament, taste and inner world of each of them is clearly expressed in their works. The history of modern Tajik graphic and poster art dates back to the beginning of the 20's when, with the introduction of a new system of education. The first textbooks for the new schools, still printed with the Arabic alphabet, richly illustrated magazines and pieces of Tajik prose, such as S. Aini's Odina, all paved the way for the development of Tajik graphic art. The most fruitful work was done by L.Bure, V.Eremian, G. Nikitin and A.Siddiki in Samarqand. Of those who were active in the 30's in Dushanbe mention should be made of M. Novik, K. Cheprakov and V. Kukolev. During the war between USSR and nazi Germany Tajik graphic art continued to develop as witnessed by series of political posters and caricatures and illustrations for press articles by M.Krasnopolsky, A. Orlov, M. Khoshmukhamedov and B. Serebriansky. In the post-war years and the 50's there appeared   many  interesting works in the field of book illustration, among them Serebriansky's    illustrations for Firdawsi's Shahname.

                                       

Portrait of a weaver, 1959 Abudurahman Rahimov	A view of Kafirnigan , 1966 Ion Volynsky	Spring , 1967 Zuhur Habibolayev	Timber rafting down the Mountain river, 1944        S. Zakharov
Village Kibali , 1967 Xušbaxt Xušbaxtov	Sharing the harvest , 1957 Abdulo Aš urov	The Syr Darya , 1939 Grigory Timkov	Still Life , 1967 Ahmer Umarov
Portrait of a farmer, 1962 Abudurahman Rahimov	Pamirian Still Life, 1964 Zuhur Habibolayev	Peaceful days , 1968   N. Matasov	Nurek Hotel , 1962 Zuhur Habibolayev
Fly-leaf of the book "Jewls of Iranian Folklore" , 1962 Konstantin Turenko	Zal at the Rudabe Castle, Illustration for Ferdowsi's poem Shahname , 1955 Boris Serebriansky	Samarqand, Entrance to Shahe Zand,1959 šur Haydarov	In the old days , 1969   N. Matasov

    

Gathering Apples , 1947 Mejid Xoš mohamedov	A Girl ,1969 S. Nuridinov	Jami, Wood,  incrustation by      Rudolph Tokman, 1964	December, 1963 A. Besperstov

                          Pages from 10th centuary, poetry book of "Shahname" (King story), by Ferdowsi

               

Links: Art Gallery Tajikistan  artists;( in Russian) Tajik state institute of art International Directory of Performing Arts Collections and Institutions The National Internet  Award of Tajikistan Firdowsi and His Shahname in Tajik Representational Art Situation Analysis in the Sphere of Fine Arts, Handicraft, Design, and Museum of Tajikistan Persian Artists from Iran References: The art of  Soviet Tajikistan Arts and crafts in Tansoxania and Khurasan

                

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