Midday 

Boyukagha Mirzazade created this oil painting, depicting women at work in rural Azerbaijan. The image seems simple, but it carries complex social and cultural information. The women are carrying heavy loads, likely agricultural products. The clothing provides visual clues, linking the figures to specific cultural traditions and perhaps also signaling class status. Mirzazade was working in the Soviet era when artistic production was directly tied to ideological goals. Art institutions favored social realism, art that glorified everyday life and labor. Was Mirzazade's painting an example of Soviet propaganda, or was it a more nuanced commentary on the lives of rural women? To address this question, one can research the artistic conventions of Soviet Azerbaijan, study the biographies of artists, and read social histories of the period. By studying visual culture in its historical context, we understand art’s complex relationship to the societies that produce it.