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)
Early Spring, 1917
By Charles E. Burchfield
Located in New York, NY
Charles Burchfield referred to 1917 as his ‘golden year,’ a period when his close observation of nature evolved into a uniquely stylized, symbolic mode of expression. Painted during ...
Watercolor, Archival Paper
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.”
Paper, Watercolor, Board, Pencil
Price Upon Request
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...
Paper, Watercolor
$5,500
H 17.5 in W 26.75 in
"The Clever Sister.", Story Illustration for Woman's Home Companion
By Edwin Georgi
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: December, 1946 Medium: Gouache and Graphite on Board Dimensions: 17.50" x 26.75" Signature: Unsigned "The Clever Sister." Illustration for the first part of the story of the s...
Gouache, Board, Graphite
$5,500
H 18 in W 21.5 in D 1.5 in
“Venice, 1889” San Pietro di Castello Canals American Impressionist Watercolor
Located in Yardley, PA
“Venice, 1889” by Louis Ritter (American, 1854-1892). A fantastic example of Ritter’s renowned European watercolors. This beautifully poised composition captures the sun-washed faça...
Paper, Watercolor
$750
H 29 in W 37 in D 1.5 in
Vintage Watercolor Still Life -- The Antique Store Santa Cruz
By Ross Jones
Located in Soquel, CA
Vintage Watercolor Still Life -- The Antique Store Santa Cruz Watercolor of an antiques store titled "Paradox" by Ross Jones (American, 20th century). Signed "Ross Jones" lower right...
Paper, Watercolor
$675
H 15 in W 22 in D 1 in
Gloucester Harbor, Mid Century Double-Sided Seascape Watercolor with Boats
Located in Soquel, CA
Beautiful mid century double-sided watercolor landscape painting of boats docked in the Gloucester harbor by C. Campbell (American, 20th Century). Unframed. Acquired with a collectio...
Paper, Watercolor
$12,000
H 26 in W 29.5 in
"Forest Landscape" John F. Carlson, circa 1925 American Impressionist Landscape
By John F. Carlson
Located in New York, NY
John F. Carlson Forest Landscape, circa 1925 Signed lower right Watercolor on paper Sight 21 x 24 1/2 inches The native Swede John Fabian Carlson became a household name in New Yor...
Paper, Watercolor
$6,000
H 23 in W 28 in
"Monhegan Island, Maine, " Edward Dufner, American Impressionism Landscape View
By Edward Dufner
Located in New York, NY
Edward Dufner (1872 - 1957) Monhegan Island, Maine Watercolor on paper Sight 16 x 20 inches Signed lower right With a long-time career as an art teacher and painter of both 'light' and 'dark', Edward Dufner was one of the first students of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy to earn an Albright Scholarship to study painting in New York. In Buffalo, he had exchanged odd job work for drawing lessons from architect Charles Sumner. He also earned money as an illustrator of a German-language newspaper, and in 1890 took lessons from George Bridgman at the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy. In 1893, using his scholarship, Dufner moved to Manhattan and enrolled at the Art Students League where he studied with Henry Siddons Mowbray, figure painter and muralist. He also did illustration work for Life, Harper's and Scribner's magazines. Five years later, in 1898, Dufner went to Paris where he studied at the Academy Julian with Jean-Paul Laurens and privately with James McNeill Whistler. Verification of this relationship, which has been debated by art scholars, comes from researcher Nancy Turk who located at the Smithsonian Institution two 1927 interviews given by Dufner. Turk wrote that Dufner "talks in detail about Whistler, about how he prepared his canvasas and about numerous pieces he painted. . . A great read, the interview puts to bed" the ongoing confusion about whether or not he studied with Whistler. During his time in France, Dufner summered in the south at Le Pouleu with artists Richard Emil Miller...
Paper, Watercolor
$6,000
H 20.75 in W 22.5 in D 1.5 in
"Beach House Scene" American Impressionist Coastal Landscape Watercolor on Paper
By Martha Walter
Located in New York, NY
This piece is a playful depiction of a beach house scene of the ocean, sand, and view of a house with its garden with joyful colors and precious deta...
Paper, Watercolor
$6,000
H 7.5 in W 6.38 in
Farm Animals Children's Book Original Illustration Little Golden Book
Located in Miami, FL
A British Children's Book Illustrator paints a charming picture of two happy boys painting a barn, surrounded by a gaggle of farm animals and a zebra. The present painting blends a s...
Gouache, Illustration Board, Pencil
$5,500
H 7.75 in W 18 in D 1 in
Heavy Hauler - Mid-Century Illustration - Children's Books
By Art Seiden
Located in Miami, FL
Art Seiden was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1923. He received a BA at Queens College and studied for eight years (!) at the Art Students League. Mario Cooper was among his instructors. Up...
Pencil, Illustration Board, Watercolor
$675
H 11 in W 14 in D 0.33 in
First Light on the Harbor, Vintage Watercolor
By Ritchie Allen Benson
Located in Soquel, CA
1970's watercolor of boats anchored in a harbor by Ritchie Allen Benson (American, 1941-1996). This piece is signed "R. A. Benson" in the lower center. Image, 7.5"H x 9.38"W. Ritchie Allen Benson was born in Los Angeles. He studied at the Art Center School (Los Angeles) and was a member of the American Watercolor Society and the California Watercolor Society. Ritchie Allen Bensen grew up in the Los Angeles area during the World War II era. By the late 1950s, he was studying watercolor painting and by the 1960s was exhibiting on a national level. He spent a great deal of time painting along the California coast and was most interested in producing works which pictured boats and harbor scenes. His watercolors were sold through the Challis Gallery in Laguna Beach and through art association exhibition sales. Although he continued to paint occasionally in Southern California, most of Bensen's later works were done in Mendocino, California, or farther north in Washington state where he spent a lot of time painting on the beaches...
Paper, Watercolor
Blue Hills Landscape
Located in Soquel, CA
Gorgeous watercolor painting of a landscape depicting light blue hills with faint pink mountains in the background and vibrant green grasslands in the front....
Watercolor, Laid Paper
Calling All Girls
By Freeman Elliot
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Young girl holding her dog up to grab her hat on a tree branch. Cover for the March 1962 issue of the Calling All Girls magazine
Gouache, Board, Pencil
Sold
H 31 in W 40 in
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...
Paper, Watercolor
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...
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...
Graphite, Paper