Just a few of the thousands of notebooks, sketches and documents of paintings recently given to the Burchfield-Penney by NYC's Burchfield Foundation.

An exceptional gift was made to the Burchfield-Penney Art Center this month. Unrequested, the Burchfield Foundation gave the Buffalo institution thousands of notebooks, sketches and documents of 1,128 paintings from the Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967) estate, as well as a sample of unusual wallpaper designed by the artist and a dark and brooding painting of the artist’s studio. The wallpaper sample and painting are both currently on display at the Burchfield-Penney. In addition, the Foundation made a second gift in the amount of $250,000 in support of the center’s new building, to be completed by the fall of 2007.

Burchfield-Penney curator Nancy Weekly spent nine months with the archive doing research and documenting the content of sketchbooks documenting the planning of large paintings, poetry-like observations of the artist’s world and fun little cartoon-like notebooks made as gifts and to be sold by the artist in his younger years. As the research went on, it became clear to the Foundation, whose board of directors is made up of the artist’s descendants, primarily grandchildren, that the Burchfield-Penney would be the best home for this extensive collection of important research material. The new museum building, which will nearly double archival storage space, including the installation of high-capacity rolling storage units, will carefully house the amazing archive. The new building, designed by Gwathmey, Siegel & Associates, will also more than double the exhibition space devoted to Charles Burchfield, and will include a state-of-the-art study space facility.

Charles E. Burchfield was very organized and planned for the preservation of his life’s work. These notebooks, documents and sketchbooks were carefully wrapped and dated by the artist during his lifetime. Until August of last year, the Kennedy Galleries located on Fifth Avenue on New York’s Upper East Side were caring for this archive, as well as a good number of paintings by the artist. Sales of artwork would go to support the Burchfield Foundation’s efforts. Kennedy Galleries also represented the artist when he was alive, presenting numerous exhibitions of the artist’s work. When the Kennedy Galleries closed last year, they transferred the archive to Burchfield’s relatives in Poughkeepsie, New York. D.C. Moore Gallery, also located on Fifth Avenue, took over the rest of the estate and presented an exhibition of Burchfield’s work last year.

"Red Birds and Birch Trees," a sample of wallpaper created by Burchfield in Buffalo in 1924. This is the only wallpaper Burchfield had in his own home.

In his later years, Charles E. Burchfield was a consulting artist to Buffalo State College. He provided occasional lectures on art to the student body. In 1966, with the assistance of Dr. Edna Lindeman, the artist saw the creation of the Burchfield Art Center on the Buffalo State Campus. Now named the Burchfield-Penney Art Center after major gifts from Charles Rand Penney of art created by Western New York artists, the museum is devoted to the preservation and presentation of artists working in Western New York.

Burchfield is well known for his dark and brooding paintings of nature as well as his paintings of everyday life, particularly average buildings. He made many works of art, which document city life in downtown and the West Side of Buffalo. Included in the gift are several small pencil sketches of “Conventions for Abstract Thoughts,” which Burchfield created and integrated into paintings in and around 1917. These “Thoughts” include Dangerous Brooding, Fascination of Evil, Fear, Morbidness (Evil), Melancholy, Meditation, Memory, Imbecility and Insanity. The animistic characteristics are made into images that look like horns, whirlpools, scary eyes and gaping, cavernous mouths, which were incorporated into his paintings, lending a feeling of fear and doom to these works. You might see these images in the branches of trees, a doorway or a shadow. The unusual small sketches are a treasure to be added to the Burchfield-Penney’s collection.

“Red Birds and Birch Trees,” a sample of 1924 wallpaper created by Burchfield in Buffalo, is highly unusual. Apparently, this was the only wallpaper he had in his own home, and it was made specifically for a patron’s home. This wallpaper is hard to imagine covering the walls of a room. The design incorporates a ground plane in the floor of the forest, as well as deep space behind a wooded foreground, which is made out of a pink, blue and white pattern. The image is about 18 inches across and 24 inches high, and would create an incredibly dynamic and active wall when installed. This is another significant addition to the center’s collection.

Burchfield-Penney museum director Ted Pietrzak called the Burchfield Foundation “paragons of philanthropy” due to their ongoing, significant support. Contributions like this help the Burchfield-Penney as it develops into a world-class museum. The new building will allow for significant exhibitions of work by Burchfield, as well as numerous artists throughout the region.