Cossack Mamai 1912

David Burliuk made this striking painting, Cossack Mamai, with oils, and it feels as raw and immediate as if he’d just stepped away from the canvas. The paint is applied in these thick, almost sculptural strokes that give the whole scene a kind of restless energy. Look at how the colours aren’t blended so much as placed next to each other. You can almost feel Burliuk figuring things out as he goes, changing his mind, adding layers, and letting the process itself become part of the story. The yellows and oranges shout out against those moody blues and greens, and the Cossack's posture gives a sense of defiance. It reminds me a little of Marsden Hartley, with that same rough-and-tumble approach to paint and a similar interest in capturing a kind of raw, masculine energy. Burliuk isn’t trying to give us a polished, finished product, he's inviting us to witness something that is in the act of becoming. Art, for him, seems to be all about keeping the conversation going.