Marusia 1960

David Burliuk painted this portrait, Marusia, with oils on canvas, and the brushwork is so present, you can almost feel the energy of its making. Burliuk was really part of that early 20th-century moment when artists were pushing painting away from representation, towards pure expression. Up close you can see these intense slabs of colour, especially in the background, where green and pink meet the blue and white sky. The paint is applied so thickly, it creates a tactile surface that's almost sculptural. Notice how the strokes around her eyes aren't blended, giving a sense of immediacy. Each mark is a decision, a response. It makes me think of Kirchner and those other expressionist portraits, where the artist uses colour and form to convey inner states of emotion, rather than just outer appearances. It's like Burliuk is digging beneath the surface, trying to capture something raw and essential about Marusia. In art, uncertainty is also the point!