Cowboy in the Organ mountains, New Mexico 1949

David Burliuk made this pastel drawing of a cowboy in New Mexico, and it feels like such an open, immediate response to the landscape. The mountains in the background are built up from energetic strokes of pink, purple, and blue, while yellow paint suggests the sun sinking in the evening sky. I can imagine Burliuk outside with his pastels, just trying to grab the essence of the place. You can almost feel him squinting, trying to get the colors right, simplifying forms into something immediate and true. Look at the way he renders the figure of the cowboy! It's not about perfect representation, but something more expressive. This feels related to the work of Marsden Hartley, another painter who spent time in New Mexico, capturing the landscape in all its vastness. There’s a sense of freedom here – a painter unafraid to be direct and maybe even a little clumsy in the pursuit of something real. It reminds you that painting is an act of conversation, an ongoing dialogue with the world and with other artists.