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Lot Essay
After 1943, Charles Burchfield returned to the fantastical, spiritually charged depictions of nature that had dominated his early career. These mature works are more dramatic than their earlier counterparts and this period is widely considered Burchfield's most successful. Executed in 1959, Golden Dream is a triumphant example of these watercolors and a radiant composition rife with the sounds and sensations of a warm afternoon.
Golden Dream manifests the dialogue between physical and emotional states that is a leitmotif of Burchfield's oeuvre. The artist had a particular affinity for changing weather patterns and developed a sensitivity to the mercurial conditions outside his door. He sought not only to depict the physical changes taking place outside, but also to convey the sounds and moods that accompanied those tempestuous transitions. In the present work he captures both his sensory and spiritual response to the landscape as well as its inherent life force. One can almost feel the subtle movement of the butterflies' wings as they sit perched in the large tree in the foreground. The warm sun bathes the field and nurtures the grass and flowers and the entire composition is aglow with energy.
To create this effect so successfully, Burchfield developed a technique during this period that utilized small repetitive brushstrokes and intense colors. Matthew Baigell remarks, "They gave, in more purely pictorial form, an overall pulsating quality to the paintings. With pigment and brushstroke rather than with identifying detail, Burchfield sought the forces of nature as they coursed through all things. With few distractions, he let the sky, the plants, and the earth throb with equal intensity... Using this technique, Burchfield painted atmosphere as if it had density. Depending on tones and colors, he could suggest the look and feeling of a hot, humid day or the frenzied moments of a snowstorm. He could keep butterflies and other insects in constant motion, as if they were intoxicated, he once said, 'by the sheer ecstasy of existence.'" (M. Baigell, Charles Burchfield, New York, 1976, p. 170) In Golden Dream Burchfield combines his mature technique with his overarching vision of nature to create the glorious sensory experience that is characteristic of his best work.
Golden Dream manifests the dialogue between physical and emotional states that is a leitmotif of Burchfield's oeuvre. The artist had a particular affinity for changing weather patterns and developed a sensitivity to the mercurial conditions outside his door. He sought not only to depict the physical changes taking place outside, but also to convey the sounds and moods that accompanied those tempestuous transitions. In the present work he captures both his sensory and spiritual response to the landscape as well as its inherent life force. One can almost feel the subtle movement of the butterflies' wings as they sit perched in the large tree in the foreground. The warm sun bathes the field and nurtures the grass and flowers and the entire composition is aglow with energy.
To create this effect so successfully, Burchfield developed a technique during this period that utilized small repetitive brushstrokes and intense colors. Matthew Baigell remarks, "They gave, in more purely pictorial form, an overall pulsating quality to the paintings. With pigment and brushstroke rather than with identifying detail, Burchfield sought the forces of nature as they coursed through all things. With few distractions, he let the sky, the plants, and the earth throb with equal intensity... Using this technique, Burchfield painted atmosphere as if it had density. Depending on tones and colors, he could suggest the look and feeling of a hot, humid day or the frenzied moments of a snowstorm. He could keep butterflies and other insects in constant motion, as if they were intoxicated, he once said, 'by the sheer ecstasy of existence.'" (M. Baigell, Charles Burchfield, New York, 1976, p. 170) In Golden Dream Burchfield combines his mature technique with his overarching vision of nature to create the glorious sensory experience that is characteristic of his best work.