Images

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=05878F0D1186216E64D3F7EDF3FAEB4848E70026E4FD643626C6724349D0FD96&s=24247294&se=177895516&v=0&f=805.1930_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=CDD6D0794AED60212341AC5B62B9AA77C2D3C4FA81F557E01DD893BF142B6733&s=24247294&se=177895516&v=5&f=805.1930_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=59D12A573B25C8032A0018FBF4CC3898D387808A741043A739FF21812FA68936&s=24247294&se=177895516&v=1&f=%5C805.1930_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=41CCE7BD0B5E013130D68470B07EBD2C683E6CFFCA1F6D7EA75C577EE8127A1F&s=24247294&se=177895516&v=1&f=%5C805.1930_o2.jpg

Additional Views

May 5, 2015

Nov 6, 2008

Jan 25, 2013

Setting Sun through the Catalpas (Late August Sunset)

August 27, 1916

Charles Burchfield

(American, 1893–1967)

America, 20th century

Watercolor and opaque watercolor with graphite on wove paper

Sheet: 50.5 x 35.3 cm (19 7/8 x 13 7/8 in.)

Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection 1930.850

Reproduced with permission from the Charles E. Burchfield Foundation

Catalogue raisonné: Straus 142; Trovato 196

Location

not on view

Did you know?

Burchfield's notations about color placement can be seen behind the layers of watercolor in this drawing, when studied closely.

Description

Burchfield began to experiment actively with watercolor after returning to Salem. Early on, he worked carefully, outlining the composition completely in pencil before filling it in with watercolor. Faint graphite lines are visible throughout this depiction of the sun casting light through a star-shaped opening between flowering bushes. He later broke from this practice and worked directly with watercolor.

Artist biography

Charles Burchfield

Charles Burchfield was among the most original and poetic painters of the Cleveland modernist movement. Born in Ashtabula, he moved to Salem, Ohio, following the death of his father in 1898. After graduating from high school, he attended Cleveland School of Art, studying with William Eastman, Frederick Gottwald, Henry Keller, and Frank Wilcox. In 1914 Burchfield began attending Kokoon Klub exhibitions, and in spring 1915 he went to Brandywine to meet William Sommer. Around this time Burchfild began experimenting with the brilliant colors and simplified forms of the Berlin Heights painters. He painted his first mature works in 1915, and grad ed from the Cleveland School of Art with a degree in illustration the following spring. That summer the Cleveland School of Art sponsored his first solo exhibition, and in the fall, after attending the National Academy of Design in New York for one month, he returned to Salem. In February 1917 the Cleveland School of Art mounted his second solo exhibition. Burchfield was inducted into the army that summer. After his return in 1919 he exhibited with other Cleveland modernists at the Play House, Laukhuff’ s Book store, and other Cleveland venues. In 1921 he went on an extended sketching trip through eastern Ohio with Keller, Wilcox, and Paul Travis, exhibiting these recent paintings at the Cleveland School of Art and in the May Show at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Later that year he moved to Buffalo to work as a wallpaper designer, a position he retained until he resigned in 1929 to become a full-time painter. Over the next 30 years he exhibited extensively at museums and galleries across the country. Solo exhibitions of his paintings were held at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (1930), Pittsburgh’ s Carnegie Institute of Art (1935, 1938, 1946), and Buffalo’ s Albright-Knox Art Gallery (1944, 1955, 1963, 1967). In 1953 New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art organized a major exhibition that traveled to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Burchfield died in West Seneca, New York.
"Transformations in Cleveland Art" (CMA, 1996), p. 224

Inscriptions

Inscription

signed, lower right, in graphite: C E BURCHFIELD - 1916

Provenance

1930

(Frank K.M. Rehn Gallery, NY, sold to Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH)

1930-

Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Baur, John I. H. The Inlander: Life and Work of Charles Burchfield 1893-1967. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1984. Mentioned: p. 40; Reproduced: p. 44

Maciejunes, Nannette V., and Michael D. Hall. The Paintings of Charles Burchfield: North by Midwest. Exh. Cat. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. in association with the Columbus Museum of Art, 1997. Mentioned: pp. 114-115; Reproduced: p. 115

Townsend, J. Benjamin, ed. Charles Burchfield's Journals: The Poetry of Place. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993. Mentioned: p. 431

Exhibition of Paintings by Charles Burchfield. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland School of Art, 1941. Mentioned: no. 5

Maciejunes, Nannette V. The Early Works of Charles E. Burchfield, 1915-1921. Exh. Cat. Columbus: Columbus Museum of Art, 1987. Mentioned: no. 25; Reproduced: p. 37

Bauer, John I. H. Charles Burchfield. Exh. Cat. New York: Whitney Museum, 1956. Mentioned: no. 8; Reproduced: plate 4

O'Connor, John, Jr. "Charles Burchfield: Exhibition of His Paintings at the Carnegie Institute." Carnegie Magazine 11 (March 1938): 309-312.

"Pittsburgh: A Comprehensive Showing of the Work of Burchfield." Art News 36 (April 2, 1938): 18.

Trovato, Joseph S. The Nature of Charles Burchfield: A Memorial Exhibition, 1893–1967, Paints, Drawings, Prints. Exh. Cat. Utica, NY: Museum of Art, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, 1970. Mentioned: no. 68

Curry, Larry. Eight American Masters of Watercolor: Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Maurice B. Prendergast, John Marin, Arthur G. Dove, Charles Demuth, Charles E. Burchfield, Andrew Wyeth. Exh. Cat. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1968. Mentioned: no. 83; Reproduced

Trovato, Joseph S. Charles Burchfield: Catalogue of Paintings in Public and Private Collections. Utica: Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, 1970. Mentioned: p. 51, no. 196; Reproduced: p. 36

Exhibition history

Main Gallery Rotation (gallery 228). Cleveland Museum of Art (October 19, 2009 - February 22, 2010).

An Exhibition of Water Colors and Oils by Charles Burchfield.. Carnegie Institute.

Expressionism and Related Movements. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 26-February 28, 1939).

Charles Burchfield: A Retrospective Exhibition of Watercolors and Oils 1916-1943. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY (organizer); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 4-28, 1945).

Charles Burchfield Retrospective Exhibition. Whitney Museum of American Art (January 11-February 26, 1956); The Baltimore Museum of Art (March 14-April 22, 1956); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (May 9-June 17, 1956); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (July 11-August 19, 1956); Los Angeles County Museum of Art (September 5-October 14, 1956); The Phillips Collection (November 4-December 11, 1956); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (December 28, 1956-February 10, 1957).

Paintings by Charles Burchfield.. Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Museum of American Art.

Eight American Masters of Watercolor: Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Maurice B. Prendergast, John Marin, Arthur G. Dove, Charles Demuth, Charles E. Burchfield, Andrew Wyeth. Los Angeles County Museum of Art (April 23-June 16, 1968); Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young Museum (June 28-August 18, 1968); Seattle Art Museum (September 5-October 13, 1968).

The Nature of Charles Burchfield: A Memorial Exhibition, 1893–1967, Paints, Drawings, Prints. Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, NY (organizer) (April 3-June 14, 1970).

Cleveland Traditions: Water Colors and Enamels from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Frank J. Lausche State Office Building.

Cleveland Traditions: Enamels and Watercolors from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 30-October 16, 1983).

Charles Burchfield.. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (January 30-March 25, 1984); Milwaukee Art Museum (April 20-June 19, 1984); Oklahoma City Museum of Art (September 14-November 11, 1984).

The Early Work of Charles E. Burchfield. Columbus Museum of Art (December 13, 1987-February 7, 1988); Laguna Art Museum (March 5-April 24, 1988); Burchfield Penney Art Center (May 14-July 3, 1988).

The Paintings of Charles Burchfield: North by Midwest. Columbus Museum of Art (March 25-May 19, 1997); Burchfield Penney Art Center (June 15-August 17, 1997); National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC (September 1, 1997-January 25, 1998).

Visions Out the Window and Down the Street: A Golden Anniversary Celebration of the Art of Charles E. Burchfield at the Brauer Museum of Art. Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso, IN (organizer) (July 24-October 10, 2004).

Charles Burchfield: The Ohio Landscapes, 1915–1920. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 22, 2018-May 5, 2019).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Setting Sun through the Catalpas (Late August Sunset)|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1930.850|author=Charles Burchfield|year=August 27, 1916|access-date=04 October 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Contact us

The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email [email protected].

To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, a detail image, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.

You are here:

Images

Setting Sun through the Catalpas (Late August Sunset)

Setting Sun through the Catalpas (Late August Sunset)

Charles Burchfield

Location

Download and Share

Did you know?

Description

Charles Burchfield

Inscription

Contact us