The State Museum of Fine Arts of Turkmenistan houses the painting ‘Portrait of the Composer Nury Halmamedov’ by Mamed Mamedov, an Honoured Artist of Turkmenistan. In 2026, the work will celebrate its 60th anniversary, according to the news agency ‘Turkmenistan: Golden age’.

The portrait holds a special place amongst the numerous works of art dedicated to Nury Halmamedov. In the painting, the composer is depicted against a rural landscape, leaning against an old mulberry tree. His bright red shirt contrasts with the autumnal colours of nature and serves as a compositional focal point of the painting.

Art historian and Honoured Worker of Culture of Turkmenistan Azat Annayev notes that the work is open to two interpretations. According to the first, the artist captured the composer in a moment of creative reflection. The second is linked to the recollections of Yevgeny Mikhelson, an Honoured Artist of Turkmenistan, who recounted how Nury Halmamedov stood in the courtyard, leaning against a tree, whilst awaiting the admissions committee’s decision.

According to Azat Annayev, Mamed Mamedov portrayed the composer not only as an outstanding musician, but also as a man deeply invested in his creative work. The image of the mulberry tree in the painting also takes on symbolic significance, evoking notions of resilience and vitality.

Mamed Mamedov and Nury Halmamedov were born in 1938. Both were brought up in a children’s home and received higher education at art universities in Russia. In 1964, Mamed Mamedov graduated from the I. Repin Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and returned to Turkmenistan.

In the 1960s, the artist became one of the leading figures of a new generation of Turkmen painters. He was a member of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ – a group of seven Turkmen painters so named by the art historian Galina Saurova.

Mamed Mamedov’s works are on display at the State Museum of Fine Arts of Turkmenistan. These include ‘Prayer for Water’, ‘Wedding’, ‘Conversation about the Universe’, ‘Karakum’ and other pieces. Among these, ‘Portrait of the Composer Nury Halmamedov’ is considered one of the artist’s most famous works.

Six decades on, the painting continues to hold its place in the museum’s exhibition, portraying the image of the outstanding Turkmen composer through a combination of portraiture and symbols of his native landscape.