David Davidovich Burliuk

Acquired from the family of the artist

Elena Basner, Yevgenia Petrova, Mary Burliuk Holt (eds.), Russian Futurism and David Burliuk, "The Father of Russian Futurism", St. Petersburg: Palace Editions, State Russian Museum, 2000, p. 189, illustrated
Nobert Evdaev, "David Burliuk in Japan," Isskystvo, Moscow, January, 2007, p. 80, illustrated
Irina Antonova, et al, Futurism: A Radical Revolution, Moscow: Krasnaya Ploshad, 2008, p. 215, illustrated

This painting is in beautiful and well preserved condition. The heavy piece of wood on which it was painted is stable and extremely robust. The grain of the wood is in integral part of the painting and the paint layer is clean and very fresh. There appear to be no restorations and the picture should be hung as is. The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Like many of his contemporaries, David Burliuk fled Russia after the Revolution, but he made the uncommon decision to travel to Japan via Siberia in 1920. For the next two years he continued to campaign for artistic revolution, becoming an active member of the creative culture in the Far East. Japanese society embraced him instantly; he was considered a vogue symbol of Russian vanguard art. Burliuk organized exhibitions in Kobe, Tokyo and Yokohama, and he gave lectures and wrote poetry, all the while fostering his own artistic development. As he absorbed the influences of Japanese culture and incorporated them into his canvases, he remained intrinsically Russian and true to himself.

Burliuk's reputation preceded him to Japan; he was talented and volatile, and proclaimed internationally as the "Father of Futurism" thanks to his enormous contribution the Russian literary and artistic Futurist movement. He was recognized within Russia as the leader of this eccentric group of artists and poets, with such famous members as Vladimir Mayakovsky and Velimir Khlebnikov, who together held unruly poetry readings, dressed absurdly and created public scenes. Historically, the Futurist movement first began in 1909 in Italy and was founded by Filippo Marinetti, who called for radical upheaval in the arts and complete rejection of tradition, rather encouraging the depiction of urban landscapes in a constant state of chaotic motion. Burliuk was one of the founders of the later Cubo-Futurist movement, which was a uniquely Russian phase in avant-garde art, fusing Cubist-inspired planes and displacement with Futurist-inspired sense of rhythm and motion, evoked through the use of space, color and dimension. When Burliuk introduced this movement to Japan, the artistic society embraced it; many were drawn to his radical approach to innovation. Meanwhile he continued to lecture on Cubo-Futurism, and he even created an important Futurist alliance with Ukrainian artist Victor Palmov. Burliuk was so extremely successful in Japan that he sold enough paintings to move with his family to America in 1922.

Japanese Fisherman is a prime example of Burliuk's individual style at the height of his fascination with Cubo-Futurism. He depicts a subject that would typically be found in folk painting: the fisherman,  an emblematic figure of everyday life within Japanese culture. The painting is inscribed Ogasawara, indicating that this fisherman was from the Ogasawara islands, south of Tokyo. Burliuk's choice of subject echoes a common theme found throughout his oeuvre. "Yes, Burliuk is a folk painter fundamentally.  His native ability glows very bright whenever he touches any subject related to the soil" (Herman Baron, ACA Gallery exhibition catalogue, New York, 1948). Burliuk's connection to the common people, despite his worldly travels and success as an artist, remained important throughout his career.

Cubo-Futurist influences dominate this painting, creating an interesting contrast to the seemingly traditional subject matter. The fisherman's form is born from juxtaposing lines and the planes created by these lines; he seems to pop out from the landscape. Fragmented and interrupted planes of color, in conjunction with Burliuk's intense palette, create a multi-dimensional image that underscores its Cubist influences. The use of repetition in depicting the fisherman's legs, arms and head create the feeling of motion—motion that is not quite as urgent and chaotic as that seen in some of his other compositions, including South Sea Fisherman, but still dynamic and powerful. This conveyance of continuous action, as opposed to the stagnant images of pre-Modernism, is central to Burliuk's Futurist paintings. "On account of the persistency of an image upon the retina, moving objects constantly multiply themselves; their form changes like rapid vibrations, in their mad career. Thus a running horse has not four legs, but twenty, and their movements are triangular" (Umberto Boccioni et.al., Futurist Painting: Technical Manifesto, 1910).

Intense colorism, much like dynamism, is an important ingredient for the Futurist, and thus Cubo-Futurist, movement. A new theory of color was proclaimed in the Futurists' manifesto: "How can we still see a human face as pink, while our lives are undeniably doubled by night-time activity? The human face is yellow, it is red, it is green, it is blue, it is violet.  The pallor of a woman looking into a jeweler's window is more iridescent than all the prisms of the jewels that fascinate her. Our pictorial sensations cannot be expressed in whispers. We make them sing and shout in our canvases, which ring out with deafening triumphal fanfares." Japanese Fisherman uses color in its richest, most vibrant form. The complementary colors and intersecting lines create spatial complexity and suggest an overtly saturated, lively image that strays far from the traditional roots of earlier artistic movements. The mountains in the background are an unrealistic violet and green, the hills and ground a mix of natural and unnatural pigments—and all the colors are broken into the shattered planes, created by the juxtaposed lines within the tumultuous composition.

Burliuk's Japanese sojourn produced canvases of brilliant color and exquisite technique. Japanese Fisherman is an extraordinary example from this creative period.