1946 David Burliuk Oil Painting
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GUEST:
I brought a painting that I inherited from my mother and father. It's a David Burliuk. Uh, they purchased it back in 1961.
APPRAISER:
Do you know how much they bought it for?
GUEST:
They paid $1,800 for it.
APPRAISER:
Did they buy it in, um, in New York or in...
GUEST:
Yes, it was in New York, mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Okay. But it is, obviously, a painting, uh, not of New York.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER AND
GUEST:
(both laughing)
APPRAISER:
It's, uh, a painting of Florida.
GUEST:
Well, that's sentimental value. My family spent a lot of vacations there. And that's what prompted the purchase.
APPRAISER:
Okay, and, uh, for Burliuk, Florida was one of his, uh, favorite places to, to visit and paint.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
He's an artist who was known in Russia, because he was born in Russia...
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
...as the father of Russian Futurism.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Russian Futurism was a progressive art movement, uh, in the teens. His impact on Russian avant-garde art was immense, and would have continued, but he, he emigrated pretty early on after the revolution.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
From 1918 to about 1921...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...he went through Russia, through the Urals, and to Japan, went through Japan and came to the United States...
GUEST:
(laughs) Wow.
APPRAISER:
...in, uh, in the 1920s, around 1921, 1922.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Burliuk is an artist who is known, therefore, not just in Russia...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...but he's also known quite well in America, because he died in 1967.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
So he spent a formative part of his career here.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
A lot of the Abstract Expressionist artists...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
..even Jackson Pollock, for example...
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
...they referred to him as, uh, Papa Burliuk.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
He was shown at some important galleries, like A.C.A. Galleries in New York.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
What a lot of people think about Burliuk are these paintings of, like, rustic Russian scenes...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...usually of peasant women and cows, or...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And they're usually kind of a small-scale...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...type of, uh, painting-- not this. This is about, like, 25 by, uh, 30 inches.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Those are usually about, like, nine by 12 inches, 12 by 16 inches.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
He was a prolific artist.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
A lot of times, he was painting to give as payment.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
For various services.
GUEST:
(laughs)
APPRAISER:
Bartering, in the classic way that artists do.
GUEST:
Uh-huh, wow, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
This painting exhibits a lot of his love of Impressionism...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...and specifically the artwork of van Gogh.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
In homage to van Gogh, he would, uh, he would paint like van Gogh, and sometimes sign on one side Burliuk, and one side van Gogh.
GUEST:
(laughs)
APPRAISER:
When we look at this painting, I see a lot of the influence of the Impressionist artists and post-Impressionist artists on Burliuk, especially in the impasto. This is oil on canvas, by the way.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
It's dated 1946.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And you can see that the paint in a lot of places is very, almost sculptural. He used a lot of impasto.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Where the paint almost builds up from the canvas. When he really loved a scene...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...he would paint his heart out. I've seen paintings by Burliuk that just are to die for.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Um, and this is, this is one of them. This painting probably was never cleaned.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Um, I, I do see it, it was relined.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
But you can notice up here, especially the blues have become dark.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
If this painting was cleaned...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...the colors would, would pop out even that much more. This is one of his most successful compositions. Florida happens to be a very desirable subject by Burliuk.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
I would feel very comfortable putting an estimate on this painting, an auction estimate that's conservative...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm, right.
APPRAISER:
...of $30,000 to $40,000.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm, wow, oof. It's, uh, that's amazing. (laughs) It really is. It would always be loved. Now I think it needs to be insured. (laughs)
APPRAISER:
You should probably insure it around the $75,000 to $80,000 range.
GUEST:
Okay, thank you, that's, that's amazing. (chuckles)
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