Biashim Iusupovich Nurali

Born Jan. 4 (16), 1900, in Ashkhabad aul (village), now part of the city of Ashkhabad; died Jan. 2, 1965, in an airplane crash. Soviet painter. People’s Artist of the Turkmen SSR (1947).

From 1926 to 1930, Nurali studied under P. V. Kuznetsov at VKhUTEIN (Higher Art and Technical Institute in Moscow). He taught at the Turkmen Art School in Ashkhabad from 1932 to 1948. Nurali specialized in portraiture and genre painting. His works include The Carpet-maker (1926; Museum of the Art of the Eastern Peoples, Moscow), the diptych The Old Way of Life in Turkmeniia (1927; Museum of the Art of the Eastern Peoples, Moscow), The New Way of Life in Turkmenia (1927), Girl Friends (1957; Tret’iakov Gallery), and Bakhshi Among the Shepherds (1964; Museum of Fine Arts of the Turkmen SSR, Ashkhabad).

Nurali’s works are spontaneous and poetic and contain elements of primitivism. He often makes use of the designs and colors of Turkmenian rugs, completely covering the canvas with carpet designs and using mainly reddish brown tones. Nurali is also known as a folk poet and singer. He was awarded two orders and a medal.