Surrealistic Portrait 1947

David Burliuk’s *Surrealistic Portrait* is a painting that blends together a woman’s face with an invented landscape—maybe it was made in a moment of dream or play. Look at the way the woman's gaze drifts off, lost in thought, and the landscape behind her seems to emerge from her very mind. I imagine Burliuk, brush in hand, layering strokes of color, building up the terrain, and the woman’s face, trying to capture not just what she looks like, but what she feels like. I wonder what it was like to try and combine the face with the dreamscape so they would come together as one? Did one come first, or were they made up together at once? The paint seems thin and washy, which gives the scene a kind of hazy, ethereal feel, don’t you think? It makes me think of the way our memories blur and blend over time. Burliuk lets the image emerge, allowing us to piece together the puzzle of this painted dream. What a cool painting, right?