Quick Frozen Fish, Florida 1959

"Quick Frozen Fish, Florida" was made with oil paint in 1959, by David Burliuk, and it's like a party of brushstrokes, all chunky and determined. The way Burliuk loads the paint onto the canvas, you can almost feel the Florida sun baking down on that little shack. The blues of the water and sky are so bright, they’re practically shouting, while the pinks and yellows in the clouds give it a touch of cotton candy sweetness. Look at the lower right corner. The artist’s signature and the year are scratched right into the wet paint. It’s a bold move, like he’s staking his claim on this slice of paradise. Burliuk was a bit of a rebel, and you can see that spirit in his contemporaries like Kandinsky, who pushed the boundaries of what painting could be. This piece is all about the joy of painting, a celebration of color, texture, and the sheer pleasure of capturing a moment in time, quick frozen, just like those fish.