For more than fifty years, Charles Burchfield (1893–1967) sought to capture what he described as the “tremendous force of nature” in visionary watercolors alive with emotion, atmosphere, and spiritual intensity. Drawn entirely from the Whitney’s collection, this exhibition brings together ten works created between 1916 and 1960 that trace Burchfield’s lifelong reverence for the natural world, from flowering meadows to turbulent skies and shifting seasons. Featuring luminous works such as Cricket Chorus in the Arbor (1917), Cold September Rain (1957), and An April Mood (1946–55), the presentation highlights the artist’s ability to transform close observation of the environment into deeply psychological and transcendent compositions. Marking seventy years since the Whitney organized Burchfield’s landmark 1956 retrospective, this exhibition offers a rare opportunity to experience these light-sensitive works together and reconsiders the enduring resonance of Burchfield’s meditations on the elemental forces shaping the world around us.
Charles Burchfield: Elemental is part of an ongoing initiative to present rarely seen works from the Whitney’s collection, following exhibitions of Wanda Gág, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, Claes Oldenburg, and Andy Warhol.
Charles Burchfield: Elemental is organized by Caroline Webb, Curatorial Assistant.
Whitney Museum of American Art