Two girls 

Editor: So, this is "Two Girls," a watercolor painting by David Burliuk. It doesn't have a specific date. It's quite charming...almost like something from a folk tale. The colours are vibrant but there is a naivete in the rendering. What strikes you most about it? Curator: That "folk tale" quality is spot on! For me, it's like stepping into a memory, fuzzy around the edges but rich with emotion. I find the composition both whimsical and grounded – those figures are right in the front of the picture plane, solid as can be, yet the world behind them seems to tilt and ripple. I feel this contrast invites us to question where reality ends and the dream begins. Doesn't it almost seem like a stage set? Editor: I see what you mean about the stage set...the more stylized aspects reinforce that. The colours almost look deliberately...clumsy, maybe? I wonder what purpose that serves. Curator: Clumsy, perhaps not entirely! It has a sense of deliberately unschooled folk painting, in my view. Burliuk was a rebel. Remember, he co-founded the avant-garde group "Jack of Diamonds," and a little "deliberate clumsiness" in style would've been him shaking a fist at the establishment's rules! What would art become without experiment? Maybe the artist thought reality's rules constrained expression of how his world "felt," as opposed to how it looked. And the background supports the figures without overpowering. It seems that they are both interdependent. What do you make of the clouds? Editor: The clouds! Yes, they almost look like fluffy sheep in the sky. I hadn't really focused on them individually. Curator: Perhaps he saw life on earth connected directly to life above, and it's all happening together at once? Editor: I like that! So much more than just a simple country scene. Thanks for making me look at the painting in a different light. Curator: And thank you, for making me question my own perspectives, too!