The artist's wife with a still life of flowers 

This canvas, The artist's wife with a still life of flowers, was painted by David Burliuk, using oil paint. Burliuk's style is characterized by a deliberate roughness of facture, an effect achieved by heavily loading the brush with pigment. Take a close look and you'll see the artist seems to have embraced an almost visceral approach to applying paint, building up layers that lend a tactile, three-dimensional quality to the surface. This impasto technique gives the painting a robustness that aligns it with traditions of craft, where the hand of the maker is celebrated. The scene itself is constructed from elements of the everyday: flowers, food, a figure in a summer hat. Yet, this simplicity is deceptive, as the painting also suggests a connection to the elemental forces of nature, with the sea visible behind. By emphasizing materiality, process and the dignity of labor, Burliuk rejects the preciousness often associated with fine art. His approach suggests that value inheres in the act of making itself.