Life Cycles: The Charles E. Burchfield Collection Novermber 6, 1998

Life Cycles: The Charles E. Burchfield Collection
November 6, 1998 - January 3, 1999

Self-Portrait, 1916
Watercolor and conte
crayon on paper**

December Storm, 1941-60
Watercolor on paper
Burchfield Penney Art Center
The Ravine, 1916
Watercolor and pencil
Burchfield-Penney Art Center

This exhibition of sixty-six works by the American painter Charles Burchfield is drawn from the comprehensive collection of the artist's work at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center in Buffalo, New York. Born in Ashtabula, Ohio, in 1894 , Burchfield graduated from the Cleveland School of Art and studied briefly at the National Academy of Design in New York before moving to Buffalo in 1921.In 1925, he moved to Gardenville, a small town south of Buffalo, where he would live until his death in 1967. Variously described as a naturalist, social critic, symbolist, urban realist, expressionist, and transcendental visionary by his peers, critics, and admirers, Burchfield viewed himself as a romantic landscape painter and spoke of the inspiration of nature, music, and literature. His preferred medium was watercolor which he manipulated innovatively in order to create works that he felt had the solidity and monumentality of oil paintings by friends like Edward Hopper.

Road in Sunlight & Shadows, 1936.
Watercolor on paper
Gift of James T. Shaffer in memory of his mother Daisy Shaffer, 1977.

Camp Road, Jackson, South Carolina, 1918
Watercolor and pencil on paper
The Charles Rand Penney Collection
Untitled (Gothic Window Trees), 1918
Watercolor and pencil on paper
Gift of Donald A. and Ann L. Ross

While still a student, Burchfield claimed nature as his primary subject stating, "I hereby dedicate my life and soul to the study and love of nature, with the purpose to bring it before the mass of the uninterested public, that they may see and become familiar with the endless number of nature's beauties, wherein lies my greatest happiness. If I can bring only a few serious-minded people to see how vital nature is, besides being beautiful, I shall be content."

Telegraph Music, 1949
Watercolor and ink on paper
The Charles Rand Penney Collection of Works by Charles E. Burchfield
at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo State College, 1994:1.71

Throughout the course of his long career he remained true to this ambition. Life Cycles pays tribute to the artist's vision of himself as a romantic landscape painter by focusing on the themes and subjects that preoccupied him throughout his life.

February Day in the City, 1933
Conte crayon on paper
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph E. Connors
Grain Elevators, 1938
Oil on canvas
Burchfield-Penney Art Center

These include the presence of the sublime in nature; man's place in the world; the passage of time; and the importance of solitude, music, and literature.

Solitude, 1918-1944/46-1963.
Watercolor and charcoal on paper.
The Charles Rand Penney Collection of works by Charles E. Burchfield, Gift, 1994.

Field Corn and Morning Glories, 1927
Wallpaper design from M.H. Birge & Sons Company
Gouache and pencil on paper
Gift of the Burchfield Foundation, 1975:9)

**The Charles Rand Penney Collection of Works by
Charles E. Burchfield at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo State College, 1994:1.5