Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)

Exhibited: Recent Paintings, Upton Hall Gallery, State University College at Buffalo, New York, April 24-May 19, 1963. (Illustrated checklist, cat. # 10, incorrectly dated as 1952)

The artist’s comments in 1963:                                        

REBIRTH OF SPRING

     I started out in this picture to express the song of the meadowlark; but in the end something else happened.

     To me, the meadow-lark’s song seems to have a silvery quality, arising from the earth in graceful curves. However as the painting progressed, the “song” curves got “out of hand,” became very bold and abstract, and seemed more an expression of the rebirth of spring (which the meadowlark’s song also signified), so from there on I let that idea prevail. Motifs suggesting the coloring and feathers of the bird were put under the spirals.

     These might suggest the legendary Firebird, which denotes a rebirth of another sort, but that was unintended.

     The final result was an attempt to express spring reborn—an ever-recurring miracle.