Don Quixote and Sancho Panza 1941

David Burliuk’s “Don Quixote and Sancho Panza” is an oil painting on a modest, square canvas, and is currently held in a private collection. I am really drawn to the way that Burliuk lets the paint sit up on the canvas, almost like frosting. Looking closely, you can see each individual stroke, like a little sculpture. This isn't about hiding the work, but showing it. There's a real honesty in letting the process be so visible. The colors, though muted, are layered with such intention, creating this beautiful, almost dreamlike quality. Notice the way Burliuk uses thick, gestural strokes to define the figures and their mounts, a kind of shorthand that’s both playful and profound. I mean, look at Sancho Panza, all ruddy cheeks and a knowing grin, rendered with just a few dabs of paint. Burliuk reminds me a bit of Chaim Soutine, another artist who wasn't afraid to let the paint be itself, raw and expressive. It's like they're saying, "Here's the world, but here's also the paint, and they're both equally important." Art is a conversation, after all, and Burliuk is having one with the paint itself.