Questions prepared by Carsten Sander Christensen and Rovshan Pashazadeh.

A.T.: Dear Ms. Asmar, in what ways does art shape your search for meaning in life — is it a mirror that reflects your existence, or a tool that helps you create it?

A.N: Art and my existence within it are a reflect of my nature. Creativity and the process of painting charge me with vital energy. I find in the world around me the necessary and inspiring images and moments to create something new, emotionally on canvas. I love life and its surprises.

A.T.: The decorative and festive works of your father, the famous Azeri painter, Togrul Narimanbekov were built on colorful rhythm, inspired by the national traditions of Azerbaijan – which role in 2025, does Azerbaijan play in your art and in your heart?

A.N: The dynamism and expression in my father’s works reflect his nature. He was captivated by the beauty and richness of our nature, traditional national art, and understood and felt the principles of miniature painting, carpet perspective, and ornamentation perfectly. For him, as for me, there are no years in art. There is a true understanding of creative thinking and the reproduction of ideas in colors and forms; there are trends that, when synthesized, create new words and images in an artist’s work. Certainly, eras independently influence an artist’s consciousness.

A.T.: Togrul Narimanbekov’s favorite painter was the French impressionist Claude Monnet – who is yours and why?

A.N: I’m not sure that Claude Monet was my father’s only favorite artist. Cézanne’s works played a significant role in his development. As a student, he was particularly fascinated by Camille Corot and his soft, impressionistic color scheme. My father had a rigorous education; Delacroix, Manet, Monet, and many other outstanding painters inspired him.

A.T.: Impressionism is 1) breaking with tradition, 2) experimenting with techniques, 3) capturing perception and 4) challenging meaning in art – how does it fit into your painting?

A.N: Consequently, I was raised in such a creative and spiritual environment, with my mother a talented sculptor and my father constantly searching for new artistic expression. I absorbed their emotional perceptions of the world around me. I’m fortunate to have been born into such a romantic and creative family. If you ask me who my favorite artist is, I can’t give a precise answer either. I love the Italian Renaissance. I can spend hours admiring the paintings of Botticelli, Pietro degli Francesco, Caravaggio, Titian, and many other amazing artists. They are truly brilliant, and each one is spiritual in their own way. This period teaches me, giving me the opportunity to understand the value of their mastery. The 20th century revolutionized art history, offerin various new principles in creative experimentation. I am fascinated by the Italian Futurists and Cubism. Impressionism is the truth of moment-to-moment reality. An incredible sense of happiness is found in nature. The uniqueness of moments, a spark of delight. Impressionism is the foundation of my work. I synthesize it with Cubism and Futurism.

A.T.: You supported the fight against coronavirus with your brush for the Cyprus Museum of Modern Arts – do you think art is an important tool to change the world and how?

 A.N: It was a difficult period for all of humanity, but I was fortunate to be surrounded by art. Paints and canvases were counted by the meter, ideas and compositions emerged and were immediately realized on canvas. The world suffered, but I was happy, surrounded by colors and music. Cyprus was closed to everyone, and I was constantly creating new paintings for the museum. I think, ultimately, art and humanity, spirituality, and many beautiful things can save the world…

A.T.: Wassily Kandinsky associated colors with sounds and moods (yellow with trumpet-like sharpness, blue with spiritual depth). The point of his canvases was to orchestrate these sensations – is that a source of inspiration to your own art works?

 A.N: Music is my main driver, my motivator. I am also a trained pianist and musician, and everything I create is the result of many melodies and musical styles I’ve heard. Hendel, Bach, Porpora, Vivaldi, and the Baroque movement in general are a great inspiration to me. Jazz is generally cubist, while the avant-garde in the style of Schoenberg is closer to Kandisky and Pollock. I love all that is talented in music and the visual arts. They are one organism, simply expressed in different forms.

A.T.: Dear Asmar Khanim, Togrul Narimanbeyov’s father was one of the first students who received his higher education in Europe after establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918. While he was studying in France, he got married and then having returned to homeland he was exiled to Siberia by the Stalin regime. We would like to ask you to tell kindly our readers about the history of his family.

A.N:. Ideology should not influence art. My father and his parents lived through the difficult Stalin period. My father’s children had a difficult time. This regime brought much grief to families. But my father’s nature was strong and unyielding, and his love for his profession preserved him. He hardened against these difficulties and emerged as an outstanding artist of our time. The artist’s role in history was determined by their talent, thinking, and intelligence. Society must understand the role of art and the purpose it serves. Then progress is possible. Togrul Narimanbeyov’s father was one of the first students to receive his higher education in Europe in National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse after establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918. While he was studying in France, he got married. During studying he met a young woman couturier working in a private studio. Apparently, they married and had their first son, Vidali, and later my father, Togrul, was born.

Togrul Narimanbekov

My grandfather, Farman, was very concerned about the situation in Azerbaijan due to the change of power. Many acquaintances fled Azerbaijan. My grandfather’s father was the governor of Baku under the bourgeois government. The Bolsheviks wanted to execute him, but one of the young revolutionaries, Nariman Narimanov, asked the new government not to do so, and Amirbek Narimanbekov was locked up at home, or rather, under house arrest. My grandfather Farmanknew about all of this in some form, and he gravitated to Baku, thinking he could somehow help his family and be useful to the new government in creating a new life, building a hydroelectric power station, and much more. So he, his wife, Irma Laroude , and their young son, my father’s brother, Vidadi, returned to Baku. Life was difficult, the family home was occupied by different people, the Bolsheviks took away property and moved it in with the poor. A couple of years later, in 1930, my father, Togrul, was born in Baku.nd then having returned to homeland he was exiled to Siberia by the Stalin regime.

The Narimanbekov family, Farman and Irma Larrude (wife), with their sons Vidadi and Togrul in Shusha, 1935

A.T.: And our final question to you. We appreciate that while currently living and creating in France, one of the cultural centers of Europe, you co-operate with a number of international organizations. Would you please share your thoughts on this your experience, even if you can do it only in brief?

A.N: My life and creative work in France are no coincidence. My family has ties to this country; my father is buried here in the Passy cemetery in central Paris.Besides this, the environment is very important for artist, and France is a world center of art. Various exhibitions and the opportunity to participate in various international projects are also important. I created an Association named of my father, Association de Togroul Narimanbekov/ATN/ in France Mission .Promote cultural dialogue between Azerbaijan and France, hold exhibitions to support the culture of young talents from Azerbaijan, in France the ATN association is made for contemporary artists from Azerbaijan to improve, develop and strengthen the dialogue between two countries: by organizing exhibitions in Paris and Baku, create relationships in order to share their work, culture and together collaborate in an exchange of ideas. https://assoce.fr/waldec/W923006137/L-ASSOCIATION-DE-TOGRUL-NARIMANBEKOV . I organize various exhibitions presenting Azeri art in France and Europe

As an honorary member of the UNESCO Community Association, I participate in various humanitarian projects. In 2024, I was awarded a medal for my creative work by the Academic Society of Art Sciences Lettres in Paris. In 2002, in Baku, I received the title of Honored Artist of Azerbaijan, awarded by President Heydar Aliyev. I was raised by my wonderful and talented mother, Elmira, a very talented sculptor who left monuments to cultural figures in our city and abroad, including in Germany. Her sculpture of Zardabi, the activist and first founder of our newspaper and encyclopedia in Azerbaijan, adorns the encyclopedia building in the old city. She created tombstones for her Azerbaijani writers Jafar Jabbarli, Rasul Rza, and Mehdi Huseyn at the gravesite. A bas-relief of Landau, one of her last works, is on the city’s shopping street. In Hoeswerda, Germany, she created two stone sculptures on the theme of Bertolt Brecht’s “Family and Happiness.” Unfortunately, she left me early, but she managed to impart much knowledge and a love of art to me. My father was a very emotional person by nature, and during my development as a person, he spoke about my work in a contrasting manner, while my mother was always consistent in her explanations. She, in principle, helped my father become a great artist. I am completely grateful to fate for giving me such a family, parents who were romantically in love with their profession. Living and creating works of art every hour. I grew up in a studio; my father’s studio was constantly filled with international cultural and artistic figures. His studio was like a cultural and artistic center for the state, where his paintings were brought to political and distinguished government guests. I was fortunate to meet many of them: Yvette Chevira, Rockefeller, Peter Ludwig, Rastropovich, the Amirov figures, Kara Karayev and his son Faraj, Chingiz Aitmatov, who was a close friend of my father, and many others. I would also like to add that I currently teach painting and art history at the Natavan School, a cultural center affiliated with the embassy and with the support of the Azerbaijani Diaspora Committee in France. I am applying my teaching experience as an assistant professor at the Academy of Arts in Azerbaijan to my students in France.

I am collecting materials for my doctoral thesis, the topic of which is “Cultural Heritage, East-West in Art.” The research includes museums in France, Italy, England, Belgium, Europe, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.I want to note that I am constantly creating a new world in my work. I experience happiness when I see beauty and strive in my own life to approach the absolute and the harmony of Colors and formes in my art work.

L ASSOCIATION DE TOGRUL NARIMANBEKOV (W923006137) – Assoce.fr

L ASSOCIATION DE TOGRUL NARIMANBEKOV, RNA W923006137 – association, renseignements – Assoce.fr