Portrait of actor Tiagunov 1910

David Burliuk painted "Portrait of actor Tiagunov" with oil on canvas, and right away you can see the marks are out there, exposed, it's like he's saying, "Here's the paint, here's the actor, deal with it." I love the way Burliuk lets the materiality of the paint do its thing. Look at the feverish brushstrokes around the figure's head, they're like a halo, but an anxious, unsettled halo. And then there's the way he renders the suit, all these thick, clotted marks of dark blues and blacks. It's not just a suit; it's a whole world of texture and physicality. The real genius is in how he makes the chair glow with an inner light. It's like the actor is sitting on a throne of pure energy. This painting reminds me of a slightly more unhinged early Picabia, or maybe even Munch, it's like he's showing us that art is about so much more than just what you see. It's about feeling, and thinking, and wrestling with the world.