Drought Mirage
Artist
Charles Ephraim Burchfield
(American, 1893 - 1967)
Date1952-1961
MediumWatercolor over chalk on paper
DimensionsOverall: 29 11/16 × 39 7/8 inches (75.41 × 101.27 cm)
Credit LineGift of Estelle and Morton Sosland
Object numberF75-59
Signedl.r.: 1952-61 CB [monogram]
On View
Not on viewCollections
Gallery LabelLate in his career, Charles Burchfield shifted from painting marketable scenes of small towns, such as Edge of Town (hanging nearby), to creating radiant, abstract fantasy landscapes. Burchfield reworked a 1952 watercolor, Drought Sun, into Drought Mirage. He repainted the upper portion of the watercolor and added a piece of paper to the bottom edge of the painting to extend the scene. Commenting on his recreated picture, Burchfield said that his changes were “not so much a change of style actually, as a sparing use of pigment, and the need to work from memory or imagination.” The vibration of bright, ethereal color characterizes the final piece.
Copyright© Charles E. Burchfield Foundation / Burchfield Penney Art Center
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Charles Ephraim Burchfield
n.d.
2002.12.1
