Ukrainians 1912

David Burliuk made this painting, called Ukrainians, using what looks like oil paint, and he's really going for it with these saturated colours. The way he divides the scene into these sharp, geometric shapes feels almost like he’s building the image up from abstract blocks. There's a great texture here, you can almost feel the brushstrokes, like each little dab of paint is shouting to be seen. Take a closer look at how the colour is applied, it's not blended smoothly, but laid on in these little strokes that build up the overall image, it gives a real sense of energy. The yellow figure on the left seems to be leaping out, but it's also broken down into planes. Burliuk was really at the forefront of avant-garde art, and you can see how he's pushing boundaries here, playing with abstraction and figuration, kind of like a Ukrainian take on the Cubism that Picasso and Braque were doing at the time. It's a reminder that art's a conversation, and everyone brings their own voice to the table.