David Burliuk was internationally known as the father of futurism. In his home country Ukraine and in Russia he was a major contributor to the period of modernism in the early decades of 20th century.


This is a painting by David Burliuk named "Cyclist."



Futurism was all about movement, technology and violence. This painting tackles the aspect of movement clearly visible in the ongoing figure of the bicycle. Burliuk gave the impression of the bike moving in this painting by creating an ongoing pattern following the bike to make it appear as if it is moving fast. Futurism being interested in violence, the colours in this painting reflect that, there are red and orange shades used which makes the painting dramatic which brings it back to being violent.
I think that in this painting the man on the bike is riding it towards a bad situation - hence the red shades that represent badness and violence. It looks like he is on a train track and the light at the end of the journey resembles a train. The message being conveyed seems to be that the man on the bike is committing suicide. He is in a tunnel which appears to be a subway and the fact he is riding his bike fast towards a train can only mean one thing. Mechanisation, industrialisation and technology are also a part of this- that being the train, industrialisation of there being transport now available.
The artist involved all three most important aspect of futurism in this painting.