Charles Burchfield

(American, 1893-1967)

Untitled (May Landscape), May 28, 1916

watercolor, gouache, and graphite on paper

signed CE Burchfield and dated (lower right); dated (verso)

13 7/8 x 19 7/8 inches.

Property from a Private Collection, Taos, New Mexico

We are grateful for the research conducted by Nancy Weekly, Burchfield Scholar, Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo, New York.

Provenance:

The Sisti Galleries, Buffalo, New York

Sold: Sotheby's, New York, December 5, 1985, Lot 255 (as May Landscape)

Acquired directly from the above sale by the present owner

The location depicted in the present lot is likely Bedford Glens, Ohio, located near Cleveland. On May 28, 1916, the artist recorded in his journal two entries:

"A hazy stagnant day of thunderclouds & a storm – (To Glens) – A dense fog in valley – turned yellow by sunset –/Fields are full of dandelion seed heads –" (Charles E. Burchfield, Journals 27b, May 28, 1916, pp. 63-64)

"A momentary glympse (sic) into a forgotten world tonight at Bedford Glens — After a rainy day I went down into the immense valley at sunset time — a dense fog arose obscuring the sunlight but the afterglow turned it all to a rich yellow / up & down the valley was endless space, rapids frothed at my feet — the wet shore reeked with plants —/Afterwards I ascended the valley top — nothing was visible in the valley but white mists, which made it seem like the edge of the world, yet I could hear the water roaring./I heard the wood thrush’s wonderful song down in the cool dark blue-green valley —" (Charles E. Burchfield, Journals 28, May 28, 1916, pp. 44-45)

Untitled (May Landscape), May 28, 1916

Untitled (May Landscape), May 28, 1916