Long Island, summer landscape with a river 1944

David Burliuk made this summery Long Island scene with pastels and watercolor. I can imagine him on a hot day, squinting to see the light reflecting off the water. The marks are soft, smudgy. It’s all about capturing a feeling, rather than making a photographic record. Burliuk has used gentle greens, blues, and yellows to create a hazy, dreamlike effect. It feels like a memory. There are darker greens and blues lurking beneath, giving the image depth, and the white feels chalky and dry. I bet it felt good in his hand. You get the sense that he was trying to capture something fleeting. Maybe he kept at it to nail down that particular light, you know, the Long Island light. It reminds me of the work of other landscape painters. They all look at similar things, but they also bring themselves to it. We are all in conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. Ultimately, painting embraces ambiguity, allowing for many meanings and interpretations.