Charles Burchfield

(American, 1893–1967)

Charles Burchfield was an American artist whose watercolor depictions of nature seem to hum with light and movement. Often focusing on scenes in his immediate surroundings—neighbors’ homes, wintry forests, and blooming wildflowers—Burchfield developed a unique stylization of form while maintaining a perceptive sense of weather and light. “It seems at times I should be a composer of sounds, not only of rhythms and colors,” he once remarked. “Walking under the trees, I felt as if the color made sound.” Born Charles Ephraim Burchfield in Ashtabula Harbor, OH on April 9, 1893, he studied at the Cleveland School of Art and later supported himself as a wallpaper designer for M.H. Birge & Sons Company in Buffalo, NY. While living in the town of West Seneca a suburb of Buffalo, he painted the surrounding landscape and industrial scenes, motifs similar to those of his friend the painter Edward Hopper. In 1930, the artist was the subject a solo exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, “Charles Burchfield: Early Watercolors 1916–18,” and in December 1936, Life magazine anointed him as one of America’s 10 greatest painters. During the 1940s, the artist created his most hallucinatory works, including the mystical Four Seasons (1949-1960), which with its exaggerated cathedral-like forms, depicts the seasonal transition of a forest over a calendar year. A month before his death on January 11, 1967 in West Seneca, NY, Buffalo State College honored his work by creating the Charles E. Burchfield Center. It holds the largest public collection of his works, over 70 volumes of his journals, and a scale re-creation of his studio. His works are also held in the collections of the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, among others.

Charles Burchfield News

Art & Exhibitions

Does the New Whitney Museum Herald a Golden Age for New York Institutions?

by Brian Boucher
Does the New Whitney Museum Herald a Golden Age for New York Institutions?
Art & Exhibitions

The 58 Most Beloved American Artworks

by Cait Munro
The 58 Most Beloved American Artworks
Art World

Artist Q&A with Heather Dee Robertson

by Rebecca Honts
Artist Q&A with Heather Dee Robertson

Charles Burchfield Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Charles Burchfield (1,152 results)
Saturday night, 1925–1925

After Charles Burchfield

Saturday night, 1925–1925

Sale Date: May 2, 2003

Auction Closed

Summer benediction, 1951–1951

After Charles Burchfield

Summer benediction, 1951–1951

Sale Date: May 2, 2003

Auction Closed

Autumn wind, 1952–1952

Charles Burchfield

Autumn wind, 1952–1952

Sale Date: May 2, 2003

Auction Closed

Cain and Abel, 1926–1926

After Charles Burchfield

Cain and Abel, 1926–1926

Sale Date: May 2, 2003

Auction Closed

The haymow, 1924–1924

After Charles Burchfield

The haymow, 1924–1924

Sale Date: May 2, 2003

Auction Closed

Summer benediction, 1951–1952

Charles Burchfield

Summer benediction, 1951–1952

Sale Date: March 22, 2003

Auction Closed

The railroad locomotive

Charles Burchfield

The railroad locomotive

Sale Date: March 5, 2003

Auction Closed

March wind, 1926–1926

Charles Burchfield

March wind, 1926–1926

Sale Date: March 4, 2003

Auction Closed

Farm landscape in July, 1943–1943

Charles Burchfield

Farm landscape in July, 1943–1943

Sale Date: March 2, 2003

Auction Closed

House corner, 1937–1937

Charles Burchfield

House corner, 1937–1937

Sale Date: December 5, 2002

Auction Closed

Brooding bird, 1963–1963

Charles Burchfield

Brooding bird, 1963–1963

Sale Date: December 5, 2002

Auction Closed

August morning, 1951–1959

Charles Burchfield

August morning, 1951–1959

Sale Date: December 5, 2002

Auction Closed

Trees dancing in April sunlight, 1917–1917

Charles Burchfield

Trees dancing in April sunlight, 1917–1917

Sale Date: December 5, 2002

Auction Closed

The pine tree

Charles Burchfield

The pine tree

Sale Date: December 5, 2002

Auction Closed

The yellow bank, 1939–1939

Charles Burchfield

The yellow bank, 1939–1939

Sale Date: December 4, 2002

Auction Closed

September meadows, 1916–1916

Charles Burchfield

September meadows, 1916–1916

Sale Date: December 4, 2002

Auction Closed

Autumn wind, 1952–1952

Charles Burchfield

Autumn wind, 1952–1952

Sale Date: November 5, 2002

Auction Closed

Beech tree and the valley of the Little , 1919–1919

Charles Burchfield

Beech tree and the valley of the Little , 1919–1919

Sale Date: November 5, 2002

Auction Closed

Summer benediction, 1951–1952

Charles Burchfield

Summer benediction, 1951–1952

Sale Date: September 21, 2002

Auction Closed

Sunflowers

Charles Burchfield

Sunflowers

Sale Date: September 21, 2002

Auction Closed

Abstract study

Charles Burchfield

Abstract study

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Town scene with a tree lined street, 1916–1916

Charles Burchfield

Town scene with a tree lined street, 1916–1916

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Landscape with hills and clouds, 1920–1920

Charles Burchfield

Landscape with hills and clouds, 1920–1920

Sale Date: May 22, 2002

Auction Closed

Winter diamonds, 1950–1960

Charles Burchfield

Winter diamonds, 1950–1960

Sale Date: May 22, 2002

Auction Closed

English (US)

©2024 Artnet Worldwide Corporation. All rights reserved.