Who is Usta Gambar Karabakhi?

Usta Gambar Karabakhi (Azerbaijani: Usta Qəmbər Qarabağı; 1830s, in Shusha – 1905, in Shusha) was an Azerbaijani ornamentalist painter, author of impressive decorative paintings later than egg tempera (plant and zoomorphic motifs) in the interior of the Palace of Shaki Khans, in houses of Rustamov and Mehmandarov in Shusha and others.}

National traditions of wall painting, which is the most valuable legacy of Azerbaijani art, took the main place in the creativity of Usta Gambar Karabakhi. Chased embellishment and richness of compositional and color resolutions can be seen in his delicate graphic painting of a profound plant ornament. The painter drew pictures of animals and fabulous beings on branched ornaments of flowers and plants. The painting moreover didn’t destroy flatness of the wall, but upon the contrary, underlined its constructive architectural details.

Later works of Karabakhi, saving a mastery of ancient decorative paintings are distinguished for addition of viable features in clarification of distinct graphic motifs. A Describe drawn by him in the home of Mehmandarov in Shusha city, where images of deer and pomegranate tree are distinguished for their pardon interpretation and sappiness of forms, is the most famous portray of the artist. The artist created on the basis of both earlier developed canonized schemes and rushed observations.