Artists about the authenticity and the culprit of the export of paintings by Sattar Bahlulzade

Baku/13.01.22/Turan: 650 paintings by the great Azerbaijani artist Sattar Bahlulzade are for sale in the eBay online store. The works are presented by the seller in Turkey, the total cost is declared - 18 and a half million dollars. The accompanying text states that all paintings have a certificate of authenticity from the State Museum of Arts of Azerbaijan. 

How can so many paintings, the national treasure of the Azerbaijani people, be taken abroad and disappear into the hands of an unknown buyer?

There is a commission in the State Museum of Arts of Azerbaijan that issues a certificate of authorship to works of art. This certificate simultaneously prohibits the export of the pictures abroad. This commission can issue a permit for the transportation of paintings across the border of Azerbaijan, a well-known artist, who wished to remain anonymous, told Turan.

Director of the Museum of Art Chingiz Farzaliyev and his deputy Khadija Asadova refused to communicate with Turan.

According to the same artist, he doubts the authenticity of the exhibited paintings, because many works attributed to Sattar Bahlulzade are kept in private hands in Azerbaijan and exhibited in the halls of offices. A known number of the artist's works are kept in state depositories. There were also 650 other paintings that appeared, indicating the work of forgers engaged in the production of fake works by famous artists. There are fake paintings attributed to the famous Azerbaijani masters Kamal Ahmed, Mirnadir Zeynalov, Gennady Brizhatuk and other masters who have passed away, the source said.

“S. Bahlulzade cannot have so many paintings. A huge machine works somewhere, giving out for sale fake works attributed to famous artists. I looked at the photographs of the “paintings of S. Bahlulzade” for sale on the Internet. Some cannot be enlarged on the screen to see in detail. How can you sell a painting without being able to see it?” the artist was surprised.

He denies the participation in this case of the former Minister of Culture Polad Bul-Buloglu, whose name is now being discussed in terms of the sale of Bahlulzade's paintings. The source says that the theft of 274 paintings from the State Museum of Art in 1993, under the Minister of Culture P. Bul-Bul oglu, may not be associated with the appearance of 650 paintings by Bahlulzade in Turkey, since P. Bul-Bul oglu has not occupied the post of Minister of Culture since 2006.

In a conversation with Turan, Ziyadkhan Aliyev, the art critic, researcher of Sattar Bahlulzade's work, did not rule out that fakes or copies from real paintings were put up for sale.

“After the death of Sattar Bahlulzade in 1974, a huge number of sketches, unfinished paintings, were left, kept in private hands, in the houses of a relative of the artist. About 95% of the sold works are not related to his famous works. These works could be bought and taken out of the country by our compatriots and foreigners. I know that the Turkish diplomat Turgut Er took out many paintings, then he tried to sell the paintings to Azerbaijanis from Turkey, but there were no buyers (diplomats from other states who worked in Baku also exported paintings by Azerbaijani masters - Turan). It is alarming that 650 paintings are concentrated in the hands of one seller. I can also say that some of the works he sells are not like the original works of Bahlulzade,” Z. Aliyev said, naming the painting “Fuzuli” and an unnamed still life put up for sale on eBay.

As for the culprit of the illegal export of paintings, he believes that the name can be given by the investigating authorities, and the presence of certificates does not guarantee the impossibility of clandestine export of paintings, since graphic sketches can be folded in a diplomat suitcase and board the plane with him. According to Z. Aliyev, there are professional brokers who can organize the transportation of paintings across the border.

“In Azerbaijan, you can buy and take everything out, it happens in front of everyone, so the guilt of the border guards who did not check the luggage of the criminals cannot be denied,” said the artist, who wished to remain anonymous.

Z. Aliyev says that there is a problem of storing and selling many works by Azerbaijani masters abroad. In Iran and Turkey, there are public funds for the rescue of works of culture, which acquire works of art in different countries and return them to their native state. There is a similar state agency in Baku, but they do not have the funds to purchase all the stolen works. This should be done by private patrons, suggested art critic Ziyadkhan Aliyev. -0-