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Charles E. Burchfield Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

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
"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...
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Early 20th Century Abstract Charles E. Burchfield Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, 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...
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1910s Modern Charles E. Burchfield Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

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Fires of Spring in Big Woods
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in New York, NY
Estate stamp lower right
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20th Century American Modern Charles E. Burchfield Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

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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 Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Blizzard in Woods
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Blizzard in Woods Graphite on paper, c. 1945-1963 Unsigned Provenance: Sid Deutsch Gallery, New York Annotated with notes for completing the drawing. Deutsch Gallery has handled Bur...
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1940s American Modern Charles E. Burchfield Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

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Rare Charles Burchfield Drawing Book plate Rare Black and White Museum Framed
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original rare bookplate drawing by Charles Burchfield featuring his most famous motifs of sunflowers.
Category

1910s American Modern Charles E. Burchfield Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

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Charles Burchfield Preparatory Sketch, Early 20th Century
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in New York, 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...
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Early 20th Century American Modern Charles E. Burchfield Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

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Old Tree and September Wind Clouds
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in New York, NY
Old Tree and September Wind Clouds, 1961, by Charles Burchfield (1893-1967) Conte crayon on paper 13 ½ x 19 ½ inches unframed (34.29 x 49.53 cm) 19 ¾ x 25 ½ inches framed (50.165 x 6...
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1960s American Modern Charles E. Burchfield Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

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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...
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Early 20th Century Modern Charles E. Burchfield Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

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Charles E. Burchfield drawings and watercolor paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Charles E. Burchfield drawings and watercolor paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Charles E. Burchfield in paper, pencil, paint 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 drawings and watercolor paintings, so small editions measuring 10 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Louis Wolchonok, Winold Reiss, and Francis Chapin. Charles E. Burchfield drawings and watercolor paintings 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 $435,000, while the average work can sell for $39,000.

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