Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)

When Edward and Grace Root first visited Burchfield in his studio in 1929, he showed them watercolors he had created more than ten years earlier. This youthful material captivated the Roots and they acquired ten works within weeks. Burchfield was gratified that the Roots appreciated them, for he felt the 1916 compositions had a freedom of expression he described as “having pure enjoyment of natural themes.”

From his earliest journal entries, Burchfield recorded extraordinary sensitivity to natural phenomena, such as the nuances of light or the stages of plant life from season to season. These observations could, in turn, transport him to more metaphysical or spiritual experiences.