1910

A Close Shave

Ukrainian (active Russia, Japan, and United States), 1882 - 1967

In A Close Shave, a barber raises his razor and dances toward his client, while his own decapitated head sits on a nearby windowsill. The prominent scissors on the wall underscore the theme of snipping. This painting exemplifies David Burliuk’s use of a crude technique and humorous, illogical, fantastical subject matter to create a new style of painting. In 1910 the Ukranian-born Burliuk belonged to the Jack of Diamonds, a group of young painters who wanted to break from the establishment art world in Moscow. Their alternative exhibition society quickly linked up with contemporaneous avant-garde groups across Europe, including the Cubists in Paris and the Munich-based New Association of Artists, led by Vasily Kandinsky. In the wake of the 1917 Russian Revolution, Burliuk moved to Japan for several years, then settled permanently in the United States in 1920.