b. 1893 d. 1967
Site Affiliation: The Burchfield Homestead Museum
Charles Ephraim Burchfield (April 9, 1913 – January 10, 1967) was an extraordinarily gifted watercolor artist. Revered by peers, critics, and collectors during his lifetime, his work continues to attract admirers.
He lived with his mother and five siblings in this wood frame house in Salem, Ohio, from 1898, when he was 5 years old, until 1921, when he moved to Buffalo, N.Y., at age 28. The modest home, its working-class neighborhood, the small town of Salem, as well as the woods and farms that bordered the community, inspired the landscape paintings that Burchfield created throughout his life.
Burchfield called 1917 his golden year. During that 12-month span in Salem the combination of youthful energy, mastery of skills learned at the Cleveland School of Art, and encouragement from his family and friends provided the conditions for Burchfield to create about 400 paintings. Many of those watercolors are considered masterpieces in museum collections.
Primary Medium: Watercolor painting
Primary Stylistic Term: American impressionist
Fun Fact: Charles Burchfield kept journals his entire life. Entries with detailed notes about the flowers and vegetables in the garden, and his hikes in the area, made it possible for Burchfield Homestead volunteers to locate wildflowers that he listed in the places where he found them. They transplanted many “cousin” plants in the 1990s, when they reconstructed the garden after the Homestead opened as a museum.
Recommended Publications: Charles Burchfield’s Journals: The Poetry of Place edited by J. Benjamin Townsend; The Inlander: Life and Work of Charles Burchfield, 1893-1967 by John I.H. Baur; Burchfield’s Corner of Ohio by Owen F. Neils