Gate of temple in Japan 1921

David Burliuk painted this "Gate of Temple in Japan" using oil paint, and you can tell he was really in the moment with it. The texture is all about short, choppy strokes, especially in the trees, like he's almost sculpting the leaves. The colors aren't blended smooth, but rather sit next to each other, which makes everything vibrate with energy. Look at the roof of the temple. See how he uses dabs of yellow, green, and brown to give it depth? It's like he's letting the paint do the talking. The whole thing reminds me of Van Gogh, who also wasn't afraid to get down and dirty with the paint, to really dig into the materiality of it all. It's not just about depicting a scene, but about the act of painting itself, the joy and struggle of pushing the paint around to find the image within.