Skip to main content

Charles E. Burchfield 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)

to
4
3
2
2
1
2
1
Overall Height
to
Overall Width
to
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
4
2
13
921
650
639
610
4
4
4
2
1
Artist: Charles E. Burchfield
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 Paintings

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 Paintings

Materials

Board, Gouache, Watercolor, Paper

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 Paintings

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 Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Related Items
Homestead, Regional American Landscape by Pennsylvania Impressionist
By Harry Leith-Ross
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Homestead" is a regional, American landscape by Pennsylvania Impressionist and New Hope School painter Harry Leith-Ross. The painting is a 14" x 19" watercolor on paper, signed "Lei...
Category

1940s American Impressionist Charles E. Burchfield Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Archival Paper

A Canal in Venice, Hanging Out The Washing......
Located in Cotignac, FR
A watercolour on paper view of a canal in Venice by French artist Paule Soulé. The pain ting is signed bottom right and presented in a gilt and painted wood frame under glass. A cha...
Category

Early 20th Century Impressionist Charles E. Burchfield Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Pencil, Paper

1880s Original Hudson River School Landscape -- Sunset Through The Forest
By Charles Russell Loomis
Located in Soquel, CA
Beautiful Hudson River School Original gouache autumnal landscape of vivid sunset through forest by Charles Russell Loomis (American 1857 - 1936), circa 1880. Warm and cool tones wit...
Category

1880s Hudson River School Charles E. Burchfield Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Paper, Cardboard

"Train Station, " Max Kuehne, Industrial City Scene, American Impressionism
By Max Kuehne
Located in New York, NY
Max Kuehne (1880 - 1968) Train Station, circa 1910 Watercolor on paper 8 1/4 x 10 1/4 inches Signed lower right Provenance: Private Collection, Illinois Max Kuehne was born in Halle, Germany on November 7, 1880. During his adolescence the family immigrated to America and settled in Flushing, New York. As a young man, Max was active in rowing events, bicycle racing, swimming and sailing. After experimenting with various occupations, Kuehne decided to study art, which led him to William Merritt Chase's famous school in New York; he was trained by Chase himself, then by Kenneth Hayes Miller. Chase was at the peak of his career, and his portraits were especially in demand. Kuehne would have profited from Chase's invaluable lessons in technique, as well as his inspirational personality. Miller, only four years older than Kuehne, was another of the many artists to benefit from Chase's teachings. Even though Miller still would have been under the spell of Chase upon Kuehne's arrival, he was already experimenting with an aestheticism that went beyond Chase's realism and virtuosity of the brush. Later Miller developed a style dependent upon volumetric figures that recall Italian Renaissance prototypes. Kuehne moved from Miller to Robert Henri in 1909. Rockwell Kent, who also studied under Chase, Miller, and Henri, expressed what he felt were their respective contributions: "As Chase had taught us to use our eyes, and Henri to enlist our hearts, Miller called on us to use our heads." (Rockwell Kent, It's Me O Lord: The Autobiography of Rockwell Kent. New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1955, p. 83). Henri prompted Kuehne to search out the unvarnished realities of urban living; a notable portion of Henri's stylistic formula was incorporated into his work. Having received such a thorough foundation in art, Kuehne spent a year in Europe's major art museums to study techniques of the old masters. His son Richard named Ernest Lawson as one of Max Kuehne's European traveling companions. In 1911 Kuehne moved to New York where he maintained a studio and painted everyday scenes around him, using the rather Manet-like, dark palette of Henri. A trip to Gloucester during the following summer engendered a brighter palette. In the words of Gallatin (1924, p. 60), during that summer Kuehne "executed some of his most successful pictures, paintings full of sunlight . . . revealing the fact that he was becoming a colorist of considerable distinction." Kuehne was away in England the year of the Armory Show (1913), where he worked on powerful, painterly seascapes on the rocky shores of Cornwall. Possibly inspired by Henri - who had discovered Madrid in 1900 then took classes there in 1906, 1908 and 1912 - Kuehne visited Spain in 1914; in all, he would spend three years there, maintaining a studio in Granada. He developed his own impressionism and a greater simplicity while in Spain, under the influence of the brilliant Mediterranean light. George Bellows convinced Kuehne to spend the summer of 1919 in Rockport, Maine (near Camden). The influence of Bellows was more than casual; he would have intensified Kuehne's commitment to paint life "in the raw" around him. After another brief trip to Spain in 1920, Kuehne went to the other Rockport (Cape Ann, Massachusetts) where he was accepted as a member of the vigorous art colony, spearheaded by Aldro T. Hibbard. Rockport's picturesque ambiance fulfilled the needs of an artist-sailor: as a writer in the Gloucester Daily Times explained, "Max Kuehne came to Rockport to paint, but he stayed to sail." The 1920s was a boom decade for Cape Ann, as it was for the rest of the nation. Kuehne's studio in Rockport was formerly occupied by Jonas Lie. Kuehne spent the summer of 1923 in Paris, where in July, André Breton started a brawl as the curtain went up on a play by his rival Tristan Tzara; the event signified the demise of the Dada movement. Kuehne could not relate to this avant-garde art but was apparently influenced by more traditional painters — the Fauves, Nabis, and painters such as Bonnard. Gallatin perceived a looser handling and more brilliant color in the pictures Kuehne brought back to the States in the fall. In 1926, Kuehne won the First Honorable Mention at the Carnegie Institute, and he re-exhibited there, for example, in 1937 (Before the Wind). Besides painting, Kuehne did sculpture, decorative screens, and furniture work with carved and gilded molding. In addition, he designed and carved his own frames, and John Taylor Adams encouraged Kuehne to execute etchings. Through his talents in all these media he was able to survive the Depression, and during the 1940s and 1950s these activities almost eclipsed his easel painting. In later years, Kuehne's landscapes and still-lifes show the influence of Cézanne and Bonnard, and his style changed radically. Max Kuehne died in 1968. He exhibited his work at the National Academy of Design, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, and in various New York City galleries. Kuehne's works are in the following public collections: the Detroit Institute of Arts (Marine Headland), the Whitney Museum (Diamond Hill...
Category

1910s American Impressionist Charles E. Burchfield Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Freya (Seated Backwards), Mixed media on grey board
By Howard Tangye
Located in London, GB
Howard Tangye (b.1948, Australia) has been an influential force in fashion for decades. Lecturing at London’s Central Saint Martins for 35 years, including 16 years as head of BA Wom...
Category

2010s Contemporary Charles E. Burchfield Paintings

Materials

Other Medium, Archival Paper, Handmade Paper, Pen, Felt Pen, Permanent M...

Taxco, Mexico - 1930's Figurative Village Landscape
By Theodore Ernest Langguth
Located in Soquel, CA
A vintage watercolor capturing a daily scene in the Spanish colonial town of Taxco, Mexico by Theodore Ernest Langguth (German-American, 1861-1952). Titled, dated and signed lower ma...
Category

1930s American Impressionist Charles E. Burchfield Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Gouache, Pencil

San Diego Harbor at Night - Nocturnal Coastal Scene with US Navy Ships
Located in Soquel, CA
Serene nocturnal seascape by George Fotherly Hargitt (American/Scottish, 1837-1926). The San Diego harbor stretches out in front of the viewer, depicted from a vantage point above th...
Category

1920s American Impressionist Charles E. Burchfield Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Laid Paper, Gouache

Trees in a Landscape French Country Landscape
Located in Cotignac, FR
A French watercolour on paper landscape by Roger Decaux. The work is signed and dated (as yet undeciphered) bottom right. Presented in a wood frame with cut card mount. A fresh and charming view of trees in a landscape. Decaux has used simple, fluid but strong strokes for this composition. One can feel the influence of 'abstraction of form' that was a part of his later work. The eye is drawn from the trees to the surrounding fields, the touches of colour to the right and then to the silhouette of the hills beyond. The use of watercolour at its best. Roger DECAUX was born in 1919 in Dombasle sur Meurthe in the Lorraine. He studied art in Paris with Gino Severini and Jan Brusselmans...
Category

Mid-20th Century Impressionist Charles E. Burchfield Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Les Baux de Provence.
Located in Cotignac, FR
Late 20th century gouache landscape of "Les Baux de Provence" on paper by French artist Désiré Villain, signed bottom left and to the reverse and dated 199...
Category

Late 20th Century Impressionist Charles E. Burchfield Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache, Board

Les Baux de Provence.
Les Baux de Provence.
H 14.18 in W 17.52 in D 1.19 in
No Passing, Saturday Evening Post Cover
By Stevan Dohanos
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Approximate Date: 1954 Medium: Gouache on Paperboard Signature: Signed Lower Left Size: 26 1/8 x 20 in. Saturday Evening Post, October 9, 1954, cover illustration. Exhibited: Norman Rockwell Museum...
Category

1950s Charles E. Burchfield Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache, Board

Alameda River Below Mt. Tamalpais - Early 20th Century Landscape
By Marius Schmidt
Located in Soquel, CA
Beautiful early 20th century landscape of the Alameda River below Mt. Tamalpais by Marius Schmidt (American, 1863-1938). Presented in a giltwood frame. Signed "Marius Schmit" lower l...
Category

Early 1900s American Impressionist Charles E. Burchfield Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Mid Century California Mission Landscape
Located in Soquel, CA
Beautiful mid century landscape of a historic California mission, highlighting its iconic architectural details such as a columned arches, white was...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Impressionist Charles E. Burchfield Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Cardboard, Paper

Previously Available Items
Sun Breaking Through Clouds
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original graphite on paper drawing by Charles E. Burchfield. This work will come with a COA and appraisal. Best known for his romantic, often fantastic depictions of nature, watercolorist Charles Ephraim Burchfield...
Category

1910s American Modern Charles E. Burchfield Paintings

Materials

Graphite, Paper

Strong Chestnut Tree
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original graphite on paper drawing by Charles E. Burchfield. This work will come with a COA and appraisal. This work is one of several studies created by Burchfield in preparati...
Category

1960s American Modern Charles E. Burchfield Paintings

Materials

Graphite, Paper

Charles E. Burchfield paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Charles E. Burchfield paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Charles E. Burchfield in paint, paper, 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 Impressionist style. Not every interior allows for large Charles E. Burchfield paintings, so small editions measuring 34 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Samuel Hyde Harris, William Lemos, and Irving Ramsey Wiles. Charles E. Burchfield paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $145,000 and tops out at $525,000, while the average work can sell for $335,000.

Recently Viewed

View All