The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Sunflower Studies

Sunflower Studies

1917
(American, 1893–1967)
Reproduced with permission from the Charles E. Burchfield Foundation
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Burchfield developed a language of visual symbols, in which the slumping forms of these sunflowers stood for "Mute Sorrow."

Description

Charles Burchfield made numerous studies of dead sunflowers, focusing on the leaning and twisted forms of the plant. In these drawings, he hoped to capture the contrast of a flower that he saw as “gloriously alive . . . at the height of its vigor . . . [which] nevertheless seems more alive . . . when quite dead.”
  • 1917-1953
    Charles Burchfield [1893-1967], Buffalo, NY, sold to the Print Club of Cleveland as a gift for the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    1953-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Burchfield, Charles E., and Edith H. Jones. The Drawings of Charles Burchfield. New York: Frederic A. Praeger, 1968. Mentioned: p. 13; Reproduced: plate 5
    Prasse, Leona E. The Drawings of Charles E. Burchfield. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art,1953. Mentioned: p. 7, no. 25
    Trovato, Joseph S. The Nature of Charles Burchfield: A Memorial Exhibition, 1893–1967, Paints, Drawings, Prints. Exh. Cat. Utica, NY: Museum of Art, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, 1970. Mentioned: no. 314
  • Charles Burchfield: The Ohio Landscapes, 1915–1920. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 22, 2018-May 5, 2019).
    Generous Donors: A Tribute to The Print Club of Cleveland. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 2-August 4, 1991).
    The Nature of Charles Burchfield: A Memorial Exhibition, 1893–1967, Paints, Drawings, Prints. Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, NY (organizer) (April 3-June 14, 1970).
    Prints and Drawings, 1916-1965. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 20-July 24, 1966).
    Charles Burchfield Retrospective Exhibition. Whitney Museum of American Art (January 11-February 26, 1956); The Baltimore Museum of Art (March 14-April 22, 1956); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (May 9-June 17, 1956); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (July 11-August 19, 1956); Los Angeles County Museum of Art (September 5-October 14, 1956); The Phillips Collection (November 4-December 11, 1956); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (December 28, 1956-February 10, 1957).
    The Drawings of Charles E. Burchfield. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 4, 1953-January 10, 1954).
  • {{cite web|title=Sunflower Studies|url=false|author=Charles Burchfield|year=1917|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1953.578