Eloquent Canvases by Kakageldy Seiitmukhammedov
Painter Kakageldy Seiitmukhammedov from a young age was fascinated by the beauty of Akhal-Teke horses, and he began his path in art with the image of celestial horses.
In his childhood memories, Kakageldy returns to a small sandbox in the courtyard, where his friends asked him to draw silhouettes of famous Turkmen horses on the sand for them. Noticing his nephew’s craving for drawing, his uncle – musician and artist Gurban Gyshykov – convinced the young man to enter an art school.
“I started studying at the Ashgabat Art School in 1964, – tells the artist. – I still remember my first experience with variegated watercolors. I didn’t even know then that I had to constantly dip my brush in water, but now I think of it with a smile.”
After graduation, the young painter goes to Moscow and becomes a student of the Surikov Art Institute. Kakageldy often visits exhibitions held in the Russian capital, and on one of them he sees a picture depicting the famous Akhal-Teke horse named Polatly. The image of this horse, which attracted the attention of many art lovers in those years, now occupies a special place among the works of Kakageldy Seiitmukhammedov. He worked on the Gaçara kowara maý bar composition for about four years and dedicated it to the Holiday of the Turkmen horse, celebrated on the last Sunday of April.
Returning to his homeland, Kakageldy first went on a trip to the Karakum and, impressed by what he saw, created The Shepherd’s Daughter canvas. This painting was exhibited several times at the State Museum of the East in Moscow.
The works of Kakageldy Seiitmukhammedov, whose heroes also become proud and hardy Apollos – Alabaies, arouse great interest not only in Turkmenistan, but also in Japan, Great Britain, Russia, Germany and other countries.
