Charles E. Burchfield

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Charles Ephraim Burchfield (April 9, 1893 - January 10, 1967), an American watercolor painter, was born in Ashtabula Harbor, Ohio. He was raised by his mother, after his mother left his alcoholic father. he spent all of his childhood in Salem, Ohio. Most of his early works were done at his house which was converted into a museum. He graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1916. Burchfield moved to Buffalo, New York in 1921 where he was employed as a designer at the Birge wallpaper company.

In 1925, Burchfield moved from Buffalo, NY to the adjacent suburb of West Seneca, spending the rest of his life in the rural neighborhood of Gardenville.

He is known for his visual commentaries on the effects of Industrialism on small town America as well as for his paintings of nature. His paintings are in the collections of many major museums in the USA and have been the subject of exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art as well as other prominent institutions.

According to Burchfield's friend and colleague Edward Hopper, "The work of Charles Burchfield is most decidedly founded, not on art, but on life, and the life that he knows and loves best."

The Charles Burchfield Center at Buffalo State College was dedicated in his honor in 1966. It was re-named The Burchfield Art Center in 1983 with an expanded mission to support a multi-arts focus. Between 1991 and 1994, the museum received a series of gifts from Charles Rand Penney, Ph. D., of more than 1,300 works by Western New York artists. Included in that gift were 183 works by Charles E. Burchfield. In honor of such a substantial donation the museum was again re-named as The Burchfield-Penney Art Center.

[edit] Museums containing Burchfield works

• Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo State College, Buffalo, New York. The Burchfield-Penney Art Center holds the world's largest collection of Charles E. Burchfield paintings, studio objects and Burchfield memorabilia.
• Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio
• Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
• Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
• Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, New York
• Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
• Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

[edit] External links

• Burchfield-Penney Art Center
• Charles E. Burchfield Nature & Art Center
• Interview with Charles E. Burchfield Conducted by John D. Morse At the Artist's home in West Seneca, NY, August 19, 1959
• Charles E. Burchfield Biography: Hollis Taggart Galleries
• Charles Burchfield Homestead Society Website
• Charles Burchfield Artwork Examples on AskART.