Marusia in the park 1940

David Burliuk made this painting of Marusia in the park with oil on canvas. Look at how Burliuk builds up the scene with these short, choppy strokes. You can almost feel the breeze rustling through the trees, right? It’s like he’s not just painting what he sees, but how he experiences this park, moment by moment. The paint is thick, almost sculptural, and he uses these cool blues and greens to create this really calming atmosphere. But then you've got those pops of warm yellows and oranges which stop it from feeling too flat. See how those vertical strokes in the cypress trees give them such presence, contrasting with the more fluid, horizontal strokes of the sky? It’s like a conversation, each stroke answering the one before. Burliuk reminds me of Van Gogh, both finding so much life and energy in the everyday. And just like Van Gogh, Burliuk shows us that art isn’t about perfect representation but about capturing the feeling of being alive.