A.A. Milnikov, outstanding modern Russian painter, enjoys the highest honorary titles of people’s artist, academician of the academy of fine arts, etc. in Russian art circles. He studied in Repin Academy of Fine Arts from 1940 to 1946 and after graduation, he stayed there as a teacher and at the same time received further study as post graduate, receiving his postgraduate degree in 1948. He has been operating independent teaching studio since 1963, having students all around Russia and a large number of young followers.

In 1957, Salakhov participated in the National Art Exhibition of Soviet Union with his graduation oil painting Off Shift, the works that established his fame. The painting described men and women workers walking on the trestle after a night of tense working in the deep-sea oil well. Salakhov went back to his hometown Baku after graduation from Surikov Art Institute, finding great attraction towards the national and cultural tradition from the constructors and workers in Baku, the oil industry center. From the end of 1950s to 1960s, he created oil paintings including Tank Can in the Morning, Oil Reservoir, Oilmen, Emergency Repairmen, etc. He was not satisfied with describing the commonplace in daily life any more, and turned to express the nature and the serious side of life. Correspondingly, he added elements of strong contrast into the painting and started to focus on the grand and monumental composition, simple and generalized painting language as well as the rigorous sense of beauty. In the painting circles of Soviet Union of that period, he was generally considered as the representative of rigorous painting school.