The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 8, 2026

A horizontally oriented watercolor and graphite drawing depicts a turbulent landscape beneath heavy, dark gray clouds. Diagonal bands of pale yellow light pierce the sky. On the left, windblown foliage rendered in deep green and blue curves across the composition. A tall, jagged column of dark gray and blue wash stands right of center. In the lower right, a small plant sits on a reddish-brown block near a signature and date 1916.

Sun Rays and Windy Tree

1916

Charles Burchfield

(American, 1893–1967)
America
watercolor and graphite on paper
Sheet: 25.4 x 35.6 cm (10 x 14 in.)
Bequest of the Thomas H. Horner and Virginia Jackson Horner Trust 2024.51
Catalogue raisonné: Trovato 90
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Charles Burchfield kept journals in which he explained his artworks and the deeply personal symbolism within them.

Description

Landscape appealed to Charles Burchfield even at the very beginning of his studies. While working in the Cleveland School of Art’s life drawing studio—a space dedicated to studying the figure from a model—the artist instead focused his attention on the view outside the classroom’s window. In this drawing, a poplar tree appears as a dramatic black column as heavy winds transform its branches. Suggesting the duality of nature, rays of colored light descend from the dark storm clouds above.
  • 1975–2024
    Tom Horner, Hudson, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    June 3, 2024–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Trovato, Joseph S. Charles Burchfield: Catalogue of Paintings in Public and Private Collections. Utica, New York: Museum of Art, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, 1970. Mentioned: p. 42, no. 90.
  • Charles Burchfield: The Ohio Landscapes, 1915–1920. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 22, 2018-May 5, 2019).
  • {{cite web|title=Sun Rays and Windy Tree|url=false|author=Charles Burchfield|year=1916|access-date=08 July 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2024.51