Wladimir Burliuk

Wladimir Burliuk (Ukrainian: Володимир Давидович Бурлюк; Russian: Владимир Давидович Бурлюк; 27 March [O.S. 15 March] 1886–1917) was a Ukrainian avant-garde artist (Neo-Primitivist and Cubo-Futurist), book illustrator. He died at the age of 32 in World War I.

Wladimir Burliuk was born on March 15, 1886 in Kharkiv, the younger brother of David Burliuk. His family is partly descended from Ukrainian Cossacks who held premier positions in the Hetmanate. His mother, Ludmila Mikhnevich, was of ethnic Belarusian descent.

In 1903 he studied at Azbe School in Munich, and a year later he was a soldier in the Russo-Japanese War. In 1905-1910 Burliuk attended the Kiev Art School (KKHU). He lived in various places while going to KKHU, starting in Moscow, where he lived from 1907-1908. In 1908 he returned to Kiev and was in close contact with Aleksandra Ekster and Mikhail Larionov. Together with the members of the group The Link (Zveno) W. Burliuk and D. Burliuk organized an avant-garde exhibition in Kiev.

In 1909-1910 he lived in St.Petersburg and in 1910-1911 he lived in Moscow. In 1910 he became the member of the group Jack of Diamonds together with D. Burliuk, Ekster, Malevich (later also Nathan Altman and Wladimir Tatlin). In the same year he became the member of the group of avant-garde artists known as the Soyuz Molodyozhi (Union of the Youth).

In 1911 he joined the art school in Odessa. In 1913-1915 he illustrated many futuristic publications in Moscow, among them was the book The Assistance of the Muses in Spring (1915). He also co-illustrated Velimir Khlebnikov's Roar! Gauntlets, 1908–1914 alongside Kazimir Malevich.

In 1916 he was drafted into military service, and in 1917 Wladimir Burliuk was killed in World War I in Saloniki.