David Burkiuk, Farm at Bear Mountain, 1925, Oil on burlap canvas 18 1/8 x 12 7/8 in.; 46.0375 x 32.7025 cm.. Acquired 1929.
David Burliuk’s Farm at Bear Mountain (1925) is vigorously expressionistic, using color to convey Burliuk’s intense personal feelings about the landscape. Painted with rhythmic strokes, wiry lines, and strong colors, it is an ode to nature in late summer. Its predominantly saturated verdant palette is evocative of a lush summer with plenty of sun and rain. While warm highlights on the foliage and rooftops of farm buildings capture the effects of the sun, deeper greens and blues, found in the denser areas of trees, suggest the fresh, cool air of the shade. Burliuk further increases the dynamism of the painting by using a vertical format, thus denying the viewer a panoramic vista, creating a tension with the inherit nature of landscape painting.