The book "Love, Friendship, Eternity of Usto Mumin" by Boris Chukhovich is dedicated to the first and most significant creative cycle of the artist Alexander Nikolaev (Usto Mumin). This cycle was created after Nikolaev's relocation from Moscow to Central Asia in 1920 and his conversion to Islam in 1922.

The author focuses on the analysis of the central work of the cycle, the tempera painting "Love, Friendship, Eternity" (1928). He illustrates the history of art historical descriptions of Usto Mumin's works, the stylistic sources of his creativity, and the formal features of his language.

Special attention is given to the characteristics and evolution of the Samarkand art circle of Daniil Stepanov, of which Usto Mumin was a member from 1921 to 1924. Among the artists of this little-known community were Alexei Isupov, Nikolai Mamontov, and Viktor Ufimtsev, as well as, for a short time, Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin and Alexander Samokhvalov.