Dear Tahir Salahov!
I congratulate you - an outstanding contemporary artist – on your 85th birthday and wish you good health and further success in your multi-faceted activity.
You went down in the history of painting forever as one of the founders of the "severe style". At the turn of centuries and millennia, your unique creative style, which reflects the whole variety of western and eastern cultures, acquires particular importance and sound. Your works of recent years suggest that the focus of your attention is still the deepest mysteries of creation and themes of beauty, goodness and labour as the highest values of life.
In your works, one has always felt the rhythm of life of their native Azerbaijan. All your paintings, filled with the sun, sea, oil, the spirit of ancient legends of Absheron and the aura of Azerbaijan, are seen as a large-scale phenomenon of our national culture. The portraits, landscapes and still lifes you have created throughout your creative way contributed to the augmentation of the fame of the Azerbaijani school of painting. Your contribution as a theatre artist and leader of monumental projects is undeniable.
You have played a huge role in the education of many generations of artists. Your social activities in the Soviet Union made a tangible contribution to the implementation of cultural policies and helped many talented people to find their way into art.
The great number of your awards and titles is a vivid recognition of your unique talent and the appreciation that your creative work has won in different countries. The geography of your exhibitions and your works kept in well-known museums of the world testify to your enormous contribution to the development of world art.
I am confident that you will continue to delight fans of your creative work and increase the glory and traditions of Azerbaijani art.
All kinds of benefits to you.
Ilham Aliyev,
President of the Azerbaijan Republic
Baku, 28 November 2013
