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Lot 110
Charles Ephraim Burchfield (1893-1967)
June Wind
Price Realised
USD 223,500
More Information
Specialist note
We would like to thank Nancy Weekly, Burchfield Scholar at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, for her assistance with cataloguing this lot.
"June 4 – Saturday – Tried out another new paper (Bee’s 1158) – A more attractive paper, & it works better – Subject – our willow tree in wind & sunlight —" (Charles E. Burchfield's entry on the present work, Journals, vol. 58, June 4, 1955, p. 53)
Executed in 1955, Charles Burchfield’s June Wind celebrates the power and awesomeness of nature through the artist’s characteristic anthropomorphic forms and vibrant use of color. By the mid-1950s, Burchfield’s visions of nature shifted toward more dramatic depictions, reflecting a heightened interest in Scandinavian literature and the northern forests of the American landscape. June Wind exemplifies this period of Burchfield’s career, capturing not only the bright sunshine of a summer’s day but also the strong breezes that can move through the countryside with surprising natural force.
Burchfield once wrote of another work entitled June Wind, “If all musical sounds were to be forever silenced--orchestras, bands, human voices, birds & insects--and I were allowed to retain one sound to cheer me, I would ask that the wind might play in the tree-tops. The wind! Motion is life. All is dead that stands still.” (as quoted in G. Davenport, Charles Burchfield’s Seasons, San Francisco, California, 1994, n.p.) In the present work, Burchfield evokes this love of the wind through his long, fluid brushstrokes outlining and detailing the branches and foliage of the trees throughout the composition. Similar diagonal brushwork forms the partially-burnt grasses, and the sense of movement is enhanced through gestural lines of chalk highlighting these elements. The almost rhythmic quality with which Burchfield paints the natural forms stands in direct contrast to the very linear shape of the house at right, and serves to heighten the rich and colorfully executed scene.
Moreover, the gusts of wind that move the grove, and the darker hues of green and black used within, transform the trees into arm-like creatures, which appear ready to grasp anything standing in their way. Burchfield once wrote, “When the wind is blowing we must expand & swell else we be blown away. Trees grow tall and with stiffened trunk[s] let their limbs relax to be waved and tossed at the will of the wind.” (as quoted in Charles Burchfield’s Seasons, n.p.) Indeed, in June Wind, the trees seem to accept the dance of the wind, and their limbs wave along and become another instrument for the force of nature.
A life-long student and admirer of nature, in June Wind, Burchfield manifests a deep understanding and love of nature’s ever-changing landscape and competing energies. His work celebrates the overwhelming beauty of the American countryside, while also reflecting a true respect for the strength, and potential danger, of nature’s forces.
"June 4 – Saturday – Tried out another new paper (Bee’s 1158) – A more attractive paper, & it works better – Subject – our willow tree in wind & sunlight —" (Charles E. Burchfield's entry on the present work, Journals, vol. 58, June 4, 1955, p. 53)
Executed in 1955, Charles Burchfield’s June Wind celebrates the power and awesomeness of nature through the artist’s characteristic anthropomorphic forms and vibrant use of color. By the mid-1950s, Burchfield’s visions of nature shifted toward more dramatic depictions, reflecting a heightened interest in Scandinavian literature and the northern forests of the American landscape. June Wind exemplifies this period of Burchfield’s career, capturing not only the bright sunshine of a summer’s day but also the strong breezes that can move through the countryside with surprising natural force.
Burchfield once wrote of another work entitled June Wind, “If all musical sounds were to be forever silenced--orchestras, bands, human voices, birds & insects--and I were allowed to retain one sound to cheer me, I would ask that the wind might play in the tree-tops. The wind! Motion is life. All is dead that stands still.” (as quoted in G. Davenport, Charles Burchfield’s Seasons, San Francisco, California, 1994, n.p.) In the present work, Burchfield evokes this love of the wind through his long, fluid brushstrokes outlining and detailing the branches and foliage of the trees throughout the composition. Similar diagonal brushwork forms the partially-burnt grasses, and the sense of movement is enhanced through gestural lines of chalk highlighting these elements. The almost rhythmic quality with which Burchfield paints the natural forms stands in direct contrast to the very linear shape of the house at right, and serves to heighten the rich and colorfully executed scene.
Moreover, the gusts of wind that move the grove, and the darker hues of green and black used within, transform the trees into arm-like creatures, which appear ready to grasp anything standing in their way. Burchfield once wrote, “When the wind is blowing we must expand & swell else we be blown away. Trees grow tall and with stiffened trunk[s] let their limbs relax to be waved and tossed at the will of the wind.” (as quoted in Charles Burchfield’s Seasons, n.p.) Indeed, in June Wind, the trees seem to accept the dance of the wind, and their limbs wave along and become another instrument for the force of nature.
A life-long student and admirer of nature, in June Wind, Burchfield manifests a deep understanding and love of nature’s ever-changing landscape and competing energies. His work celebrates the overwhelming beauty of the American countryside, while also reflecting a true respect for the strength, and potential danger, of nature’s forces.