Landscape with a flowerbed 1906

David Burliuk made this painting, ‘Landscape with a flowerbed,’ using thick strokes of vibrant color. I imagine him standing right here, squinting in the sun, trying to capture that bright light on the white wall and the wild riot of the flowerbed. Those greens are layered and juicy, almost edible, built with little jabs of the brush. And the way the orange trim on the house just pops—you can almost feel the artist deciding to throw that in, just because he felt like it. It’s a gutsy move. I bet Burliuk was out here all the time, trying to nail that feeling of being in the thick of it, up to your knees in leaves and blossoms. You can almost feel the heat radiating off the canvas, the buzz of insects, the whole overgrown, unruly mess of nature. Painters have been chasing this feeling for centuries, that wild, untamed moment, and I feel like he came pretty damn close here.