New Burchfield Acquisition Included in Upcoming Exhibition at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center
The Burchfield-Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College is pleased to announce that Mrs. Sylvia L. Rosen has generously donated Roadside Stream, an important watercolor by Charles E. Burchfield to the Burchfield-Penney Art Center. Roadside Stream, painted in 1939, will be part of the upcoming exhibition, American Land, American Life, which opens at the Burchfield-Penney on November 15, 2003 and will be on view through February 8, 2004.
Burchfield dated Roadside Stream "April 1, 1939" and noted on the back, as well as in Volume X of his Painting Index, that the subject was "Clinton St. just west of Gardenville, N.Y." indicating that the scene was not far from the neighborhood where he lived.
According to Nancy Weekly, head of collections and the Charles Cary Rumsey Curator at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, "Roadside Stream will be a significant addition to the collection. First, the collection includes few watercolors that reflect what many people have called Burchfield'smiddle period which is predominantly characterized by his straightforward, almost documentary style of illustrating Buffalo's waterfront and regional country scenes. Second, it represents the pleasure Burchfield took in depicting a little slice of life, finding aesthetic interest in ordinary instances that most people would overlook."
Burchfield described it himself in his journals in Volume 41 at the end of a productive day:
Apr. 1 Saturday
A mild breezy morning, with wispy clouds, and a sprinkle of rain. A song sparrow sings from somewhere.
Out Clinton road almost to French to make a sketch. Painting of the stream that runs along the road here for a short distance, and then crosses under thru a cement culvert to the flats southward.
Truly a "red-letter" day, my first painting outdoors on anything new since the middle of last November. I painted eagerly and without great effort A strong rain tangy wind out of the south I felt in fine spirits.
The painting done, I packed and drove out French Rd to find a place to eat lunch. At the point where Slate-bottom creek crosses under the road (near Borden Rd) it seemed attractive) and here I stopped. My mind, set afire by the sketch, was racing by leaps and bounds, and ever[y]where I saw great subjects to paint. The strong wind out of the misty south, blowing over the warm-brownish ochre fields, filled me with a burning desire to run, to leap, to do anything so as to be part of it.
"Using one-point perspective, Burchfield draws your eye down the stream, the geometry echoed in the line of telephone poles and rows of protective road posts and roadside trees. Muted colors suggest the time of year when the Spring sun and rains are just beginning to stir new growthand, in this instance, just eight days before his birthday," continued Ms. Weekly.
Joseph S. Trovato listed Roadside Stream in Charles Burchfield, Catalogue of Paintings in Public and Private Collections (1970) as #904. In Volume X of Burchfield's Painting Indexes, Roadside Stream is #26, listed as a Christmas gift to his dealer Frank K. M. Rehn in 1942.
The Burchfield-Penney thanks Mrs. Rosen for her continuing generosity in supporting the Burchfield-Penney Art Center's programs and collections.
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.
About Sylvia L. Rosen
Sylvia L. Rosen is a respected potter and educator who taught ceramics at Buffalo State College and Amherst Senior High School. Mrs. Rosen earned her Bachelor's degree from Ohio State University in 1941 and a Master's degree from Buffalo State College in 1971. In 1991, Mrs. Rosen received the Distinguished Alumna Award from Buffalo State and the Buffalo State Philanthropy Award in 2001.
The Burchfield-Penney Art Center is supported in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and County of Erie. Additional operating support is provided by the Elizabeth Elser Doolittle Trust, the Mary A. H. Rumsey Foundation and the Burchfield-Penney's members.
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Burchfield dated Roadside Stream "April 1, 1939" and noted on the back, as well as in Volume X of his Painting Index, that the subject was "Clinton St. just west of Gardenville, N.Y." indicating that the scene was not far from the neighborhood where he lived.
According to Nancy Weekly, head of collections and the Charles Cary Rumsey Curator at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, "Roadside Stream will be a significant addition to the collection. First, the collection includes few watercolors that reflect what many people have called Burchfield'smiddle period which is predominantly characterized by his straightforward, almost documentary style of illustrating Buffalo's waterfront and regional country scenes. Second, it represents the pleasure Burchfield took in depicting a little slice of life, finding aesthetic interest in ordinary instances that most people would overlook."
Burchfield described it himself in his journals in Volume 41 at the end of a productive day:
Apr. 1 Saturday
A mild breezy morning, with wispy clouds, and a sprinkle of rain. A song sparrow sings from somewhere.
Out Clinton road almost to French to make a sketch. Painting of the stream that runs along the road here for a short distance, and then crosses under thru a cement culvert to the flats southward.
Truly a "red-letter" day, my first painting outdoors on anything new since the middle of last November. I painted eagerly and without great effort A strong rain tangy wind out of the south I felt in fine spirits.
The painting done, I packed and drove out French Rd to find a place to eat lunch. At the point where Slate-bottom creek crosses under the road (near Borden Rd) it seemed attractive) and here I stopped. My mind, set afire by the sketch, was racing by leaps and bounds, and ever[y]where I saw great subjects to paint. The strong wind out of the misty south, blowing over the warm-brownish ochre fields, filled me with a burning desire to run, to leap, to do anything so as to be part of it.
"Using one-point perspective, Burchfield draws your eye down the stream, the geometry echoed in the line of telephone poles and rows of protective road posts and roadside trees. Muted colors suggest the time of year when the Spring sun and rains are just beginning to stir new growthand, in this instance, just eight days before his birthday," continued Ms. Weekly.
Joseph S. Trovato listed Roadside Stream in Charles Burchfield, Catalogue of Paintings in Public and Private Collections (1970) as #904. In Volume X of Burchfield's Painting Indexes, Roadside Stream is #26, listed as a Christmas gift to his dealer Frank K. M. Rehn in 1942.
The Burchfield-Penney thanks Mrs. Rosen for her continuing generosity in supporting the Burchfield-Penney Art Center's programs and collections.
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.
About Sylvia L. Rosen
Sylvia L. Rosen is a respected potter and educator who taught ceramics at Buffalo State College and Amherst Senior High School. Mrs. Rosen earned her Bachelor's degree from Ohio State University in 1941 and a Master's degree from Buffalo State College in 1971. In 1991, Mrs. Rosen received the Distinguished Alumna Award from Buffalo State and the Buffalo State Philanthropy Award in 2001.
The Burchfield-Penney Art Center is supported in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and County of Erie. Additional operating support is provided by the Elizabeth Elser Doolittle Trust, the Mary A. H. Rumsey Foundation and the Burchfield-Penney's members.
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Media Contact:
Kathleen Heyworth, Public Relations, Burchfield-Penney Art Center | 7168784529 | heyworkm@buffalostate.edu