CHARLES EPHRAIM BURCHFIELD (American, 1893-1967). MIDMORNING IN JUNE, signed with monogrammed initials CEB and dated 1931 lower right. Label on reverse reads, 'To / Mt. St. Mary's College / Midmorning in June Burchfield / From Rehn's Gallery, N.Y.' Watercolor on paper - Framed, 27 1/4 in. x 40 in. Estimate $30,000-40,000
PROVENANCE:
Frank K. M. Rehn Gallery, New York. John L. Sexton Mount Saint Mary''s University, Emmitsburg, MD, circa 1955 (gift of the Estate of John Sexton)
EXHIBITED:
New York, NY, Frank K. M. Rehn Gallery, "Exhibition of Water Colors by Charles Burchfield," October 26-November 14, 1931, no.9. Pittsburgh, PA, Carnegie Institute, Department of Fine Arts, "Exhibition of Water Colors and Oils by Charles Burchfield," March 8-April 3, 1938, no. 25. Chicago, IL, The Art Institute of Chicago, "20th International Exhibition of Watercolors," July 17-October 5, 1941, no. 135. New York, NY, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Contemporary American Watercolors,"October 16-November 9, 1941.
LITERATURE:
Joseph S. Trovato, ed., Charles Burchfield: Catalogue of Paintings in Public and Private Collections (Utica, NY: Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, 1970), no. 776.
NOTE:
While his earliest works consisted primarily of nature scenes, Burchfield was greatly influenced by Edward Hopper in the 1920''s and 1930''s and began producing paintings that depicted the loneliness and stark realism of small-town and city life. Harkening back to his own childhood in Salem, Ohio, many of the works from this period reflect the artist''s memories of his youth in the Midwest. The present work, with its old wood frame buildings, celebrates the romance and simplicity of days gone by while referencing Burchfield''s ambivalence about the increasingly modern world around him. This work is documented in the Charles E. Burchfield Archives/Charles E. Burchfield Painting Indexes, Volume VIII, number 32 as, "Mid Morning in June" and identified as "Gardenville, N.Y. -- Old Lumber Mill and on[e] of the old Ebenezer ''Kitchens'' with Catholic Parish House in background."
Laid down on board. Minor surface soiling, and some rubbing at extreme edges. Few very minor tiny dots of foxing in sky.
