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Charles E. Burchfield Art

American

Born in Ashtabula Harbor, Ohio, Charles Burchfield became known as a town-landscape painter of middle-western America, and his paintings, drawings and prints have had much influence on succeeding generations of artists. He has also been described as a social critic, naturalist, and transcendental visionary whose sensitivities infuse his artwork. Of his impact on American art, Matthew Baigell wrote: "Few American artists have ever responded with such passion to the landscape or have made it such a compelling repository as well as mirror of their intimate feelings."

In addition to his painting, Burchfield was a teacher at the Art Institute of Buffalo from 1949 to 1952 and at the University of Buffalo from 1950 to 1952.

Burchfield's career can be divided into three phases. The first is landscapes based on childhood memories and fantasies and ended about 1918; the second, from 1918 to 1943, is Social Realism, including “grimy streets and rundown buildings of the eastern Ohio area,” and the third phase is a return to subject matter of his childhood and the “investing them with a kind of ecstatic poetry.” (Biagell 54)

Throughout Burchfield's career, watercolor was his preferred medium. Knowledge of Oriental art influenced him to use simple forms.

Burchfield spent his youth in Salem, Ohio, where he developed a keen interest in art and nature and was intensely aware of woodland sounds and noises. In 1912, he decided to become a painter and enrolled in the Cleveland School of Art, where his most influential teacher was Henry Keller. Another major Ohio influence on his painting was William Sommer, leader of the modernist movement in the Cleveland area. He introduced Burchfield to experimental watercolor techniques and color theory, and Burchfield began attending sessions of the Kokoon Club, organized by Sommer and William Zorach to promote avant-garde art. In 1917, he developed a shorthand of abstractions of various shapes and moods, and he also began painting small houses that appeared to be haunted.

Burchfield served in World War I from 1918 to 1919, and served as sergeant in the Camouflage Corps, camouflaging artillery pieces. In 1921, he moved to Buffalo, New York, where until 1929, he worked as a wallpaper designer for the M.H. Birge and Sons Wallpaper Company. From that time, living the remainder of his life in Buffalo, he devoted himself full time to fine-art painting that ranged from rather sentimental depictions to abstraction in the 1960s.

In the 1920s, Burchfield moved away from what he perceived as an overactive imagination and did studies of architecture of Midwestern streets. This subject matter of the realities of the man-made world was influenced by his reading of Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small-Town Life by Sherwood Anderson, and playing off those themes he reflected a debunking of the heartland sentimentality by so-called sophisticated, more worldly critics. Then in 1943, he returned to his earlier style which he explained was a "necessary diversion" from the aftermath of World War II.

Once more Burchfield began to explore the landscape of his youth, and, using a less realistic style, became almost mystical in his expressions of nature including seasonal changes, and forest sounds, which he depicted with quivering brushstrokes. "His last paintings are filled with chimerical creatures — butterflies and dragonflies from another world." (Baigell 55)

The largest single collection of Burchfield’s work is at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center in Buffalo, New York, and includes his watercolors, prints, oil paintings and preliminary sketches for both paintings and wallpaper designs. In 1997, a major retrospective of his work was held at the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. and was organized by the Columbus Museum of Art.

Find original Charles Burchfield paintings and prints on 1stDibs.

(Biography provided by Gallery of the Masters)

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Artist: Charles E. Burchfield
Village Scene, early 20th century drawing on paper, Cleveland School Artist
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Beachwood, OH
Charles Burchfield (American, 1893-1967 Village Scene, 1921 Ink, pencil and watercolor on paper Signed and dated lower right 11 x 8.5 inches 17.75 x 14.75 inches, framed Born in Ash...
Category

1920s American Impressionist Charles E. Burchfield Art

Materials

Pencil, Watercolor, Ink

"Drawing Study" Charles Burchfield, American Modernism Design
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in New York, NY
Charles Burchfield Drawing Study Graphite on paper 5 1/2 x 8 inches Charles Ephraim Burchfield (1893–1967) was an American painter, best known for his watercolor landscapes. Burchfi...
Category

Early 20th Century Abstract Charles E. Burchfield Art

Materials

Paper, Pencil

Alley Light, 1915
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in New York, NY
Charles Burchfield adds his signature mysticism to his watercolor rendering of a street corner at night in his work entitled, “Alley Light.”
Category

Early 20th Century Charles E. Burchfield Art

Materials

Watercolor, Pencil, Board, Paper

The Moon and Queen Anne’s Lace, 1960
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in New York, NY
Charles Burchfield paints an eye-catching landscape with a butterfly flittering across the canvas beneath a peculiar moon in his artwork entitled, “The Moon and Queen Anne’s Lace.”
Category

Mid-20th Century Charles E. Burchfield Art

Materials

Board, Gouache, Watercolor, Paper

Charles Burchfield Preparatory Sketch, Early 20th Century
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Larchmont, NY
Charles Burchfield (1893-1967) Untitled (Preparatory Drawing for Skyscape), Early 20th Century Pencil on paper 12 1/4 x 18 3/4 in. Inscribed: blue / white / blue / RV Born in Ashtab...
Category

Early 20th Century American Modern Charles E. Burchfield Art

Materials

Paper, Pencil

Sunflower Study
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in New York, NY
Estate stamp lower right: C-139
Category

Early 20th Century American Modern Charles E. Burchfield Art

Materials

Paper, Pencil

Study of Corn with Nicotaina
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Study of Corn with Nicotaina Signed with the artist's monogram and dated lower left Crayon on paper laid down on support paper by the artist Inscribed with title, date and dimensions...
Category

1960s American Modern Charles E. Burchfield Art

Materials

Graphite

Fires of Spring in Big Woods
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in New York, NY
Estate stamp lower right
Category

20th Century American Modern Charles E. Burchfield Art

Materials

Watercolor, Pencil

Before the Storm
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original watercolor on paper by American modernist Charles E. Burchfield, created in 1916. This work comes in an archival frame presentation and has been authenticated by the Bur...
Category

1910s Modern Charles E. Burchfield Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Untitled (Trees)
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original watercolor on paper by American modernist Charles E. Burchfield, created in 1916. This work comes in an archival frame presentation and has been authenticated by the Bur...
Category

1910s American Modern Charles E. Burchfield Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Village Scene, Crickets in November, New Albany, Ohio
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Missouri, MO
Village Scene, Crickets in November, New Albany, Ohio, 1919 By Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967) Signed and Dated Bottom Right Without Frame: 17.5" x 17.5" With Frame: 29" x 29" Bor...
Category

Early 20th Century Modern Charles E. Burchfield Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Gouache

Scene on Windspear Road, Watercolor by Charles Burchfield 1935
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Long Island City, NY
A watercolor painting by Charles Burchfield from 1935. An impressionist landscape of green foliage and a grassy hill in soft earth tones. Signed and dated in the lower right, beautif...
Category

1930s Impressionist Charles E. Burchfield Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Study for Skunk Cabbage, Watercolor Painting by Charles Burchfield 1931
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Long Island City, NY
A watercolor painting by Charles Burchfield from 1931. A still life botanical painting of a skunk cabbage in natural setting. Signed and dated in lower right, beautifully matted and framed in gold ornate frame. The painting has an excellent provenance through top New York Galleries including DC Moore...
Category

1930s American Impressionist Charles E. Burchfield Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

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Located in Kansas City, MO
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Nude Picnic Virgin Islands
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Previously Available Items
Original Rare Charles Burchfield Drawing Buildings Ohio 1919
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Buffalo, NY
Wonderful cityscape drawing by well listed artist Charles Burchfield. This work is a plein aire piece he completed in 1919, most likely in Ohio. Piece is accompanied with COA and va...
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1910s Realist Charles E. Burchfield Art

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Graphite, Archival Paper

Barren Trees
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in New York, NY
Signed and dated lower left: Chas Burchfield / 1914
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20th Century Modern Charles E. Burchfield Art

Materials

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Untitled (Rain Study)
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original graphite on paper drawing by American modern master Charles Burchfield created in 1915.
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1910s American Modern Charles E. Burchfield Art

Materials

Graphite

Through the Window
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original graphite on paper drawing by American modernist Charles E. Burchfield, created in 1914. This work comes in an archival frame presentation and has been authenticated by t...
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1910s Modern Charles E. Burchfield Art

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Portrait of a Horse
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original graphite on paper drawing by American modernist Charles E. Burchfield, created in 1917. This extremely rare work comes in an archival frame presentation and has been aut...
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1910s American Modern Charles E. Burchfield Art

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Paper, Graphite

Color Study for Clouds
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original graphite on paper drawing by American modernist Charles E. Burchfield, created in 1915. This work comes in an archival frame presentation and has been authenticated by t...
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1910s Modern Charles E. Burchfield Art

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The Birches
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original piece of Birge wallpaper designed and printed by Charles Burchfield when he worked there. This piece titled The Birches was created in 1916.
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1910s American Modern Charles E. Burchfield Art

Materials

Paper, Dye Transfer

Doodle: ID 4486
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in New York, NY
Abstraction Framed with museum quality rag board mat and black frame. The drawing is accompanied by a copy of a letter dated August 20, 1996, from Nancy Weekly, Charles Cary Lunse...
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20th Century American Modern Charles E. Burchfield Art

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Paper, Pencil

Modernist Wall Paper Pattern
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original sheet of wallpaper designed by Charles Burchfield and preserved by curators. This work is dye roller print on paper, created for Birge Wallpaper Company Circa 1921
Category

1920s American Modern Charles E. Burchfield Art

Materials

Paper, Dye Transfer

Modernist Wallpaper Pattern
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original 1920's framed sheet of wallpaper hand created by Charles Burchfield and preserved by curators.
Category

1920s American Modern Charles E. Burchfield Art

Materials

Paper, Dye Transfer

Study for "The Forest of Wild Thyme"
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original graphite drawing by Charles Burchfield which is a study for the work "The Forest of Wild Thyme". This work comes with a COA and appraisal and has been verified to be auth...
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1910s American Modern Charles E. Burchfield Art

Materials

Paper, Pencil

Modernist Pattern
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Buffalo, NY
A full sheet of a rare original piece of Birge wallpaper designed by American Modernist Charles E. Burchfield. This is a very rare example in exc...
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1910s American Modern Charles E. Burchfield Art

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Archival Paper, Screen

Charles E. Burchfield art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Charles E. Burchfield art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Charles E. Burchfield in paper, paint, watercolor and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Charles E. Burchfield art, so small editions measuring 10 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Gordon Grant, William Zorach, and Jan Matulka. Charles E. Burchfield art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,500 and tops out at $525,000, while the average work can sell for $45,000.

Artists Similar to Charles E. Burchfield

Questions About Charles E. Burchfield Art
  • 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
    Charles Ephraim Burchfield is a watercolor artist best known for romantic and sometimes fantastic depictions of nature. His unique style of watercolor found him standing at an easel and applying paint with a dry brush technique, reworking the surface during his process or much later. His body of work is divided into three periods including figuration, houses and towns, and abstractions. Shop a selection of Burchfield pieces from some of the world’s top art dealers on 1stDibs.

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