Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)

When Burchfield first went to New York City, the newly completed Woolworth Building was the tallest building in the world. Commissioned in 1910 by Frank W. Woolworth (the owner of the five and ten cent store chain), the Neo-Gothic style building was designed by Cass Gilbert and engineered by Gunvald Aus. Completed in 1913, the early skyscraper stands at a height of 792 feet, 1 inch. It was erected on the southwest corner of Broadway and Park Place. Such a phenomenon sparked the young artist’s imagination, for he includes its distinctive tower profile in several drawings and two paintings—the only two watercolors known to exist from Burchfield’s short city residency.