David Burliuk

Ukrainian artist, poet and publicist (1882–1967)

David Davidovich Burliuk (Дави́д Дави́дович Бурлю́к; 21 July 1882 – 15 January 1967) was a Russian poet, artist and publicist of Ukrainian origin associated with the Futurist and Neo Primitivist movements. Burliuk has been described as "the father of Russian Futurism."

David Burliuk was born on 21 July 1882 in the village of Riabushky (near Lebedyn, Ukraine) in the Kharkov Governorate of the Russian Empire. Burliuk's family was artistically inclined; two of his brothers were talented artists as well, Nikolai and Volodimir Burliuk. The Burliuk family partly descended from Ukrainian Cossacks on their father's side, who held premier positions in the Hetmanate. His mother, Ludmyla Mikhnevich, was of ethnic Belarusian descent.

From 1898 to 1904, he studied at Kazan and Odesa art schools, as well as at the Royal Academy in Munich. His exuberant, extroverted character was recognized by Anton Azhbe, his professor at the Munich Academy, who called Burliuk a "wonderful wild steppe horse". In 1907, he made contact with the Russian art world; he met and befriended Mikhail Larionov, and they are both credited as being major forces in bringing together the contemporary art world. In 1908, an exhibition with the group Zveno ("The Link") in Kiev was organized by David Burliuk together with Wladimir Baranoff Rossine, Alexander Bogomazov, his brother Volodymyr (Wladimir) Burliuk and Aleksandra Ekster. The exhibition was a flop, especially because they were all unknown painters. Soon afterwards, the group would morph into literary Cubo Futurism, the predominant form of Futurism in Russia. From the start to the end, Cubo Futurism always had an air of scandal about it. The artists and poets scandalized the public by walking in public spaces wearing ridiculous clothes and painting their faces, In 1913–4, Mayakovsky, Kamensky, and Burliuk decided to go on poetry tours; fury almost always followed, even on an occasion when Mayakovsky read Pushkin. Alexander Rodchenko later claimed that that specific recital "was the first time I had seen such a frenzied, furious audience". In 1917, he participated in an exhibition with the group Jack of Diamonds in the artists' salon in Moscow, which included Aleksandra Ekster and Kazimir Malevich. In 1916, his brother Wladimir Burliuk was drafted into military service, and in 1917 was killed in World War I in Saloniki. The next year, following the downfall of anarchism (he had befriended anarchists during the time he lived in an abandoned house), Burliuk fled Russia and began his journey to the United States, a process that took him through Siberia, Japan, and Canada which was not complete until 1922. In 1922, he settled in the United States. A collasal sized painting from this period titled Advent of the Mechanical Man, 1925–26, was exhibited in the Brooklyn Museum's 1926 International Exhibition of Modern Art Assembled by Société Anonyme. In New York, Burliuk developed activity in pro Soviet oriented groups and, having written a poem for the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution, sought, in particular, to gain recognition as the "father of Russian futurism". He was a regular contributor to the Russian Voice newspaper. Burliuk published his collections, brochures, and magazines together with his wife Maria Nikiforovna, and through friends he distributed these publications mainly within the USSR. In 1925, Burliuk was a co founder of the Association of Revolutionary Masters of Ukraine (ARMU) with the members Alexander Bogomazov, Vasiliy Yermilov, Vadym Meller, Alexander Khvostenko Khvostov, and Palmov Victor. In 1927, he participated in an exhibition of the Latest Artistic Trends in the Russian Museum in Leningrad (St. Petersburg), together with Kazimir Malevich, Aleksandr Shevchenko, and Vladimir Tatlin. Burliuk was author of autobiographical sketches My Ancestors, Forty Years: 1890–1930.

In the 1930s, Onya La Tour was an avid collector of modern art who acquired at least one hundred works by Burliuk. In 1940, Burliuk petitioned the Soviet government for a request to visit his homeland. In exchange, he offered a sizeable collection of archival material pertaining to his contemporary and friend Vladimir Mayakovsky, which Burliuk offered to donate to the Mayakovsky Museum in addition to over 100 original paintings. Burliuk's requests were denied. He was allowed to visit the Soviet Union only in 1956

In 1962, he and his wife traveled to Australia where he held an exhibition at Moreton Galleries, Brisbane. It was his only Australian exhibition. During his stay there, Burliuk painted some sketches and works with Australian views. From 1937 to 1966, Burliuk and his wife, Marusia, published Color & Rhyme, a journal primarily concerned with charting Burliuk's activities. His house and studio still remain.

In Russian poetry, Burliuk is regarded as a trailblazer. In 1990, the Russian Academy of Futurist Poetry established the David Burliuk Prize (Otmetina) for experimental poetry awarded annually.

Burliuk appears in Part III of the Vladimir Mayakovsky's landmark poem A Cloud in Trousers (A Cloud in Pants, 1915). A painting (most likely fictional) by Burliuk appears in the novel Chapayev and Void by Viktor Pelevin. The painting is described as a black writing though a stencil of the word GOD.