White Violets and Coal Mine

1918
(American, 1893–1967)
Sheet: 58.8 x 54 cm (23 1/8 x 21 1/4 in.)
Reproduced with permission from the Charles E. Burchfield Foundation
Catalogue raisonné: Straus 313; Trovato 442
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location: not on view

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Did You Know?

Most of the mines around Burchfield's hometown, Salem, Ohio, were out of use and abandoned even in his own time.

Description

Around 1918, Charles Burchfield began to explore and draw deserted mines around his hometown, abandoned after their resources were depleted. Many of these works were made just before he was drafted into World War I, a time characterized by intense anxiety and depression. He saw a connection between these emotions and the mines he visited, which he described as having “dark and gloomy depths . . . a luring mysteriousness.” Here, he portrayed the cave as a seemingly infinite space, contrasting its shadowy interior with white violets blooming from cracks in the rocky landscape.
White Violets and Coal Mine

White Violets and Coal Mine

1918

Charles Burchfield

(American, 1893–1967)
America, 20th century

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