Buffalo State Collects Charles Burchfield at the Burchfield-Penney
As a complement to New York Collects Buffalo State, Buffalo State Collects Charles Burchfield illustrates the generosity of people affiliated with Buffalo State College and the Burchfield-Penney's advisory council in helping to build the museum's signature Charles E. Burchfield art collection. The exhibition is on view from June 24 October 17, 2004
Since its inception the Burchfield-Penney has benefited from the enthusiasm of alumni, faculty, and community members to develop an art collection that celebrates the life and work of Charles Burchfield. The artist himself donated drawings and doodles at the inauguration of the Charles Burchfield Center on December 9, 1966. These were not our first acquisitions, however. Preceding that event, Mr. and Mrs. Peter C. Andrews donated Burchfield’s important, large painting, December Storm, to the College in 1964, which in turn became the cornerstone artwork in our nascent collection. Spiritually rich, December Storm symbolizes hope in the face of World War, having been started the day before the attack on Pearl Harbor. It depicts a burst of sunlight from behind storm clouds above houses viewed from Burchfield's own backyard.
One of the museum's most significant patrons has been Dr. Edna M. Lindemann, who began her career at the college in 1946 as an instructor in art education. Eventually she served as an assistant professor of design, director of cultural affairs, assistant to the director for planning and development, and founding director of the Charles Burchfield Center. While director, Dr. Lindemann made all her donations anonymously, which include such significant watercolors as Wind-Blown Asters, Factories, Houses and Telegraph Poles, and Flooded Field. She has also donated fourteen drawings and studies, one lithograph, and pieces of original Burchfield-designed wallpaper. A personal friend of Burchfield, Dr. Lindemann gave permission to release her name in connection with her gifts in 1996 when the Burchfield-Penney Art Center published its Burchfield Collection catalog, Life Cycles: The Charles E. Burchfield Collection which accompanied a touring exhibition of signature works spanning the artist's career.
Dr. Lindemann’s quiet, yet steadfast patronage also inspired other faculty, alumni, and governing council members, such as Donald R. Haug, Harriet and Mortimer Spiller, Peter A. and the late Mary Lou Vogt, and Steven and Cecile Biltekoff, who made gifts of drawings, prints, a painting, and archival objects. Two watercolors, portraits of the artist's mother and wife, were acquired, in part, with funds from the Retired Alumni Association in 1975 and 1980, respectively.
The unfinished diptych Easter Morning in the Woods, which was begun in 1947 as a single painting and then cut and expanded into two works in 1960, was acquired through the Winebrenner Memorial Fund in 1975. Dr. D. Kenneth Winebrenner, a faculty member of Buffalo State College's art department since 1939 and an art critic for the Courier Express, was among the museum's founding members and first advisory committee.
Charles Rand Penney became an alumnus when he was given an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts in 1995 by Buffalo State College for his extraordinary donation of several art collections between 1991 and 1994, including his impressive Burchfield Collection comprised of 183 works. Examples from the Charles Rand Penney Collection of Works by Charles E. Burchfield are almost always on display in the galleries because they encompass every medium and all points of development in Burchfield's life, dating from 1907 to 1966-67. The gravity of his gift was reflected in the decision of the council and college to rename the museum as the Burchfield-Penney Art Center on April 9, 1994.
Last year, Sylvia L. Rosen, an alumna and former faculty member, donated a painting that was ibited in American Land, American Life. The outstanding charity of all these individuals is gratefully acknowledged as we shine a spotlight on the artists, alumni, faculty and friends of Buffalo State College's history.
About the Burchfield-Penney Art Center
The Burchfield-Penney Art Center is a museum dedicated to the art and vision of Charles E. Burchfield and distinguished artists of Buffalo Niagara and Western New York State. Through its affiliation with Buffalo State College, the museum encourages learning and celebrates our richly creative and diverse community. For more information, call (716) 878-6011 or visit www.burchfield-penney.org.
The Burchfield-Penney Art Center is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is supported in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and Erie County. Additional operating support is provided by the Elizabeth Elser Doolittle Trust, the James Carey Evans Endowment, the Mary A. H. Rumsey Foundation and the Burchfield-Penney's members.
Since its inception the Burchfield-Penney has benefited from the enthusiasm of alumni, faculty, and community members to develop an art collection that celebrates the life and work of Charles Burchfield. The artist himself donated drawings and doodles at the inauguration of the Charles Burchfield Center on December 9, 1966. These were not our first acquisitions, however. Preceding that event, Mr. and Mrs. Peter C. Andrews donated Burchfield’s important, large painting, December Storm, to the College in 1964, which in turn became the cornerstone artwork in our nascent collection. Spiritually rich, December Storm symbolizes hope in the face of World War, having been started the day before the attack on Pearl Harbor. It depicts a burst of sunlight from behind storm clouds above houses viewed from Burchfield's own backyard.
One of the museum's most significant patrons has been Dr. Edna M. Lindemann, who began her career at the college in 1946 as an instructor in art education. Eventually she served as an assistant professor of design, director of cultural affairs, assistant to the director for planning and development, and founding director of the Charles Burchfield Center. While director, Dr. Lindemann made all her donations anonymously, which include such significant watercolors as Wind-Blown Asters, Factories, Houses and Telegraph Poles, and Flooded Field. She has also donated fourteen drawings and studies, one lithograph, and pieces of original Burchfield-designed wallpaper. A personal friend of Burchfield, Dr. Lindemann gave permission to release her name in connection with her gifts in 1996 when the Burchfield-Penney Art Center published its Burchfield Collection catalog, Life Cycles: The Charles E. Burchfield Collection which accompanied a touring exhibition of signature works spanning the artist's career.
Dr. Lindemann’s quiet, yet steadfast patronage also inspired other faculty, alumni, and governing council members, such as Donald R. Haug, Harriet and Mortimer Spiller, Peter A. and the late Mary Lou Vogt, and Steven and Cecile Biltekoff, who made gifts of drawings, prints, a painting, and archival objects. Two watercolors, portraits of the artist's mother and wife, were acquired, in part, with funds from the Retired Alumni Association in 1975 and 1980, respectively.
The unfinished diptych Easter Morning in the Woods, which was begun in 1947 as a single painting and then cut and expanded into two works in 1960, was acquired through the Winebrenner Memorial Fund in 1975. Dr. D. Kenneth Winebrenner, a faculty member of Buffalo State College's art department since 1939 and an art critic for the Courier Express, was among the museum's founding members and first advisory committee.
Charles Rand Penney became an alumnus when he was given an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts in 1995 by Buffalo State College for his extraordinary donation of several art collections between 1991 and 1994, including his impressive Burchfield Collection comprised of 183 works. Examples from the Charles Rand Penney Collection of Works by Charles E. Burchfield are almost always on display in the galleries because they encompass every medium and all points of development in Burchfield's life, dating from 1907 to 1966-67. The gravity of his gift was reflected in the decision of the council and college to rename the museum as the Burchfield-Penney Art Center on April 9, 1994.
Last year, Sylvia L. Rosen, an alumna and former faculty member, donated a painting that was ibited in American Land, American Life. The outstanding charity of all these individuals is gratefully acknowledged as we shine a spotlight on the artists, alumni, faculty and friends of Buffalo State College's history.
About the Burchfield-Penney Art Center
The Burchfield-Penney Art Center is a museum dedicated to the art and vision of Charles E. Burchfield and distinguished artists of Buffalo Niagara and Western New York State. Through its affiliation with Buffalo State College, the museum encourages learning and celebrates our richly creative and diverse community. For more information, call (716) 878-6011 or visit www.burchfield-penney.org.
The Burchfield-Penney Art Center is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is supported in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and Erie County. Additional operating support is provided by the Elizabeth Elser Doolittle Trust, the James Carey Evans Endowment, the Mary A. H. Rumsey Foundation and the Burchfield-Penney's members.
Media Contact:
Kathleen Heyworth, Head of Marketing and Public Relations | 7168784529 | heyworkm@buffalostate.edu