Dedication to Cezanne 1910

David Burliuk made this painting, "Dedication to Cezanne", in 1910, and it looks like it’s oil on wood. You can see how he’s exploring simple shapes and primary colours in a kind of rough, intuitive way, and that’s very much part of his process. What gets me is the texture, that gorgeous wood grain showing through. It’s not trying to hide its humble origins! The white circle at the top – so thickly painted, you can practically feel each stroke of the brush. It’s almost as if the paint is fighting to escape the confines of the circle, wanting to be free! Burliuk was a key figure in the Russian avant-garde, always experimenting and pushing boundaries. This piece reminds me a little of early Kandinsky, especially in its use of abstraction to convey feeling. Ultimately, art is a conversation, isn't it? A back-and-forth across time and space.