Landscape 

David Burliuk made this landscape painting with oil on canvas sometime during his career. Burliuk’s style placed him at the forefront of the Russian avant-garde of the early 20th century. He co-founded radical groups that challenged academic artistic institutions. What does it mean, then, for an artist known for the urban, the modern, and the abstract to paint something as conventional as a landscape? Looking closely, we can see this is no ordinary landscape. The scene is tilted, almost on the verge of collapse. Burliuk has used vibrant greens, but applied them with such thick brushstrokes that the scene becomes almost abstract. He is playing with the traditions of landscape painting, pushing it in a new direction. Art historians turn to manifestos, letters, and exhibition reviews to understand the social context of artworks like this. By studying these resources, we can understand how artists responded to the institutions of their time.