of Journals

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Charles E. Burchfield Foundation has made an extraordinary donation to the Burchfield-Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College of 62 volumes of Charles E. Burchfield’s journals. The journals contain an exceptional amount of documentary material about the celebrated watercolorist’s life, interests, paintings, business, dreams, weather and nature observations, and personal anecdotes. They chronicle the artist’s day to day life from 1910 through 1964.

Several volumes of the journals will be on view October 7 through March 25. In addition to the journals, Burchfield’s Journals will include examples of the artist’s paintings. The exhibition will trace the artist’s literary and documentary talents, as well as his aesthetic mastery. The exhibition will open with a members reception on Saturday, October 7, from 6 to 8 pm.

Few people have been able to use Burchfield’s autograph journals because the aging paper is very fragile. To make these immensely interesting journals more accessible to the public, J. Benjamin Townsend worked with the Burchfield-Penney Art Center from 1974 until 1993 on producing an edited, annotated version that presented the material thematically. Charles Burchfield’s Journals: The Poetry of Place was published by the State University of New York Press in 1993 to celebrate the centennial of Burchfield’s birth.

The 737-page book explores the significance of the places where Burchfield lived (Salem, Ohio, and Buffalo and Gardenville, New York), his philosophical and spiritual evolution; his relationship to nature as a naturalist, romantic, and transcendental painter; his professional life; and his interest in music, art, literature, science, world events, and social issues. The book has become a major reference tool for academic and curatorial scholars nationwide. Dr Townsend’s publication has been a significant contribution to the field – the journals in their entirety are comprised of approximately 10,000 pages, an extraordinary amount of data to research.

The center is at Rockwell Hall, Buffalo State College, 1300 Elmwood Avenue. For information, 716/878-6012.