Charles Ephraim Burchfield (1893-1967)

Sunrise in the Forest

Details

Charles Ephraim Burchfield (1893-1967)
Sunrise in the Forest
signed and dated 'Chas. Burchfield/1917' (lower left)--dated again 'June 1918' and inscribed with title (on the reverse)
watercolor and pencil on paper laid down on paperboard
22 x 18 in. (55.9 x 45.7 cm.)

Provenance

The artist.
[With]Frank K.M. Rehn Galleries, New York.
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Reed, Alexandria, Virginia, acquired from the above, 1942.
By descent.
National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1975.
Acquired by the present owner, circa 1992.

Literature

J.W. Strauss, Charles E. Burchfield: An Interview with the Artist, An Account and Analysis of His Production and a Catalog of His Paintings, Undergraduate honors thesis, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1942, n.p., no. 318.
J.S. Trovato, Charles Burchfield: Catalogue of Paintings in Public and Private Collections, Utica, New York, 1970, p. 70, no. 399.

Exhibited

New York, Frank K.M. Rehn Galleries, Early Watercolors by Charles Burchfield 1917-1918 Period, November 20-December 16, 1939.

Lot Essay

On the reverse of the sheet, Charles Burchfield inscribed 'As the rising sun breaks thru the/woods, hundreds of birds burst into song/making the whole forest resound. It is a/song of gladness and praise for the new day.'

More from Important American Paintings, Drawings & Sculpture

View All