Banana Tree Flower, 1921

Private collection, Moscow

The work was created during a winter trip to the warm Japanese Islands of Ogasawara. Burliuk’s friends-artists recommended moving there. According to the memoirs of David Davidovich, after the cold Siberia he wanted "to arrange a interesting year without snow, without warm clothes, without worries about heating, and similar attributes of the winter of the North." Among other things, life on the Islands was much cheaper than in the city.

Taking along the entire family and pre-purchasing the necessary materials for the new paintings, the artist went on one of the Islands of this archipelago – Chichijima. At this time, the artist's palette changes, it becomes as bright and juicy as the surrounding exotic vegetation. A trip to the island, lost in the Pacific Ocean, was for Burliuk the same, what at the time a trip to Tahiti was for Gauguin. Collision with uncivilized culture and way of life of local residents reminded Burliuk about Gauguin’s Polynesia. Completely devoid of any stiffness, the islanders did not hesitate to take off their clothes, remaining only in the "narrow belt on the loins." The painting "Banana Tree Flower" is an illustration of the inevitable creative dialogue between Burliuk and the French master.