Musical Burchfields On View at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center
In celebration of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra's Tribute to Burchfield, which was performed at Kleinhans Music Hall on January 30 and 31, 2004, the Burchfield-Penney Art Center will present Musical Burchfields, an exhibition of works by Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967) which reflect the underlying influence of music as primary inspirations for the artist's paintings and drawings. The exhibition will be on view from February 21 June 13, 2004 at the Burchfield-Penney, Rockwell Hall, Buffalo State College.
Burchfield's journals reveal very little direct influence of other artist's works on his painting, but the monumental significance of natural sounds and music is clearly evident. Many works may be attributed directly to specific musical compositions. Most importantly for Burchfield, music conjured up visions and memories. Music was inseparable from his aesthetic. His record collection indicates a range of musical tastes from medieval motets to twentieth-century symphonies. Among his favorite composers were Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Wagner (whom he later rejected), Dvorak and Sibelius. The artist strove to achieve in his own painting the same heroic romanticism that he heard in music, particularly the works of Beethoven and Sibelius.
The Burchfield-Penney holds a large portion of the artist's record collection as well as his journals, painting indexes, correspondence, and other archival materials that document the significant role that music played in Burchfield's creative process.
Another group of Burchfield's works incorporates the visualization of sounds from nature. In this second category, his use of abstract motifs, as in the insect fantasies, illustrates the principle of synesthesia, conveying one sense impression in terms of another. Personally devised patterns or visual conventions that convey natural sounds were stimulated by the sensation of hearing.
Some of Burchfield's works that were directly inspired by music include:
December Light (1930-31), watercolor, 22 1/2 x 31 3/4 in., The Charles Rand Penney Collection of Works by Charles E. Burchfield at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo State College
Burchfield wrote on the back of this painting that it was "an idea 'inspired' by the 2nd movement of the SibeliusSecond Symphony(the opening part), not an attempt to 'express' the music itself, but an idea that came to me while reflecting on the 'Northern' character of the whole symphony."
The Horn Call from the Sibelius Fifth, circa 1963, cont
Burchfield's journals reveal very little direct influence of other artist's works on his painting, but the monumental significance of natural sounds and music is clearly evident. Many works may be attributed directly to specific musical compositions. Most importantly for Burchfield, music conjured up visions and memories. Music was inseparable from his aesthetic. His record collection indicates a range of musical tastes from medieval motets to twentieth-century symphonies. Among his favorite composers were Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Wagner (whom he later rejected), Dvorak and Sibelius. The artist strove to achieve in his own painting the same heroic romanticism that he heard in music, particularly the works of Beethoven and Sibelius.
The Burchfield-Penney holds a large portion of the artist's record collection as well as his journals, painting indexes, correspondence, and other archival materials that document the significant role that music played in Burchfield's creative process.
Another group of Burchfield's works incorporates the visualization of sounds from nature. In this second category, his use of abstract motifs, as in the insect fantasies, illustrates the principle of synesthesia, conveying one sense impression in terms of another. Personally devised patterns or visual conventions that convey natural sounds were stimulated by the sensation of hearing.
Some of Burchfield's works that were directly inspired by music include:
December Light (1930-31), watercolor, 22 1/2 x 31 3/4 in., The Charles Rand Penney Collection of Works by Charles E. Burchfield at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo State College
Burchfield wrote on the back of this painting that it was "an idea 'inspired' by the 2nd movement of the SibeliusSecond Symphony(the opening part), not an attempt to 'express' the music itself, but an idea that came to me while reflecting on the 'Northern' character of the whole symphony."
The Horn Call from the Sibelius Fifth, circa 1963, cont
Media Contact:
Kathleen Heyworth, Public Relations, Burchfield-Penney Art Center | 7168784529 | heyworkm@buffalostate.edu