For countless years, artists have been fascinated with the heavens, the stars, the moon and other celestial bodies. The vast and boundless sky above has been a continual source of mystery, awe and inspiration in the artistic mind. Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967) - a prominent American watercolor painter of the 20th century - knew this all too well.
Burchfield's accolades are as vast as the heavens he studied. He sat on juries for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Carnegie Museum of Art, was the first artist to receive a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1930 and was recognized as an "artist for America" by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
On Friday, the Burchfield Penney Art Center - named in honor of Burchfield's artistic contributions - opened an exhibit featuring a collection of Burchfield's celestial-inspired works entitled Oh My Heavens.
The exhibit opening began with an introduction by Anthony Bannon, executive director of the Burchfield Penney Art Center. Bannon praised Burchfield for his artistic vision.
"[It's] good that we have [Burchfield's] bright marks upon paper," Bannon said. "That we might understand what it means to be inspired; what it is like to have seen the light."
Burchfield's deep fascination with otherworldly bodies translated into works of art that truly captured the sentiment of his stargazing experiences. He observed astronomical phenomena with the dreaming eye of a visionary and painted them with the deft hand of a skilled artist.
One of Burchfield's paintings that embodied this vision is the first painting he made of the heavens. Entitled "Orion and the Moon"(1917), the watercolor painting came out of a period known as Burchfield's "Golden Year," a time in his artistic career where he created some of his most notable works.
"Orion and the Moon" depicts a simple rooftop surrounded by a deep silvery stretch of sky above. The crescent moon and the bright supergiant stars that make up the Orion constellation light up the canvas with striking scientific accuracy. The red supergiant Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis), sits in scarlet hues near the top of the canvas, high in the sky. The silvery gradient that fills the sky is a beautifully warm rendition of a star-lit night.
The painting is not entirely realistic in its execution, but Burchfield managed to truly capture the essence of what he saw and bring it to life to the viewer.
Alana Ryder, the Curator for Public & Academic Programs at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, is interested in Burchfield's unique vision of the astronomical objects in the sky.
"It's a really difficult thing to be able to paint the sky," Ryder said. "There's some finesse in [Burchfield's] work ... to have something that has accuracy [and] also convey how breathtaking a scene might look."
Tullis Johnson, one of the curators of the exhibition and manager of archives at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, feels that Burchfield's focus on astronomical objects brings out questions of our deepest humanity and significance. The human fascination with the world beyond our own is evoked with Burchfield's artwork - the same fascination that Burchfield had himself as a stargazer.
"We've been looking for profound meaning and inspiration for thousands of years," Johnson said. "There's something deep, deep within us that we're still fascinated by the overpowering, overarching vastness of what's in the sky above us."
This search for meaning in the night sky is nothing new. Burchfield's exploration of this endless sea of mystery is far-reaching, deep and visionary. His lifelong study of the stars made such a profound connection with the celestial possible. In one of his observational journals, Burchfield writes about his closeness with the world that he paints.
"I will never travel to 'outer' space," Burchfield wrote. "But I have brought the stars and constellations to me. To me, they are not remote or forbidding, but something to love."
Burchfield's works representing the heavens are considered a call for us to look beyond the world we live in.
"For what sense matters art if not to encourage our gaze toward ideas far larger than the surface, to direct our vision upward, to see if we can soar?" Bannon said in his introductory speech on opening night.
On Sunday, April 28, Tullis Johnson, Alana Ryder and Kevin Williams will tour guests through the two new Burchfield exhibitions: Oh My Heavens in the Anthony J. Sisti Gallery and the John R. Oishei Foundation Gallery and The Studio in the Charles E. Burchfield Rotunda.
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