Lectures

Thursday, March 18, 7:00 pm

Conventions for Abstract Thoughts
by Nancy Weekly

In childhood, Charles Burchfield formulated memories of fear and mourning that he would later transform into his own language of pictorial symbols he called “Conventions for Abstract Thoughts.” His actual personal meanings might not be discernible to the outer world, but these peculiar signifiers had the capacity to infuse disturbance into landscape paintings and convey powerful subliminal meaning. Their essence permeated his artwork throughout his career.

 

Thursday, April 8, 7:00 pm

Burchfield’s Sublime American Landscapes
by Tullis Johnson

In a journal entry from May 27, 1914 Charles Burchfield wrote “Already in my mind I have made the following resolution, but I will now put it down on paper: I hereby dedicate my life and soul to the study and love of nature, with the purpose to bring it before the mass of uninterested public, that they may see and become familiar with the endless number of nature’s beauties, wherein lies my greatest happiness. If I can bring only a few serious-minded people to see how vital nature is, besides being beautiful, I shall be content.” Join Tullis Johnson for a discussion of Charles Burchfield’s paintings of industrial and natural landscapes in Western New York, Western Pennsylvania, and Southeastern Ohio that emphasize his love and concern for the natural world.

 

Sunday, April 11, 3:30 pm

Wind, Sunshine and Sky: Meteorologist’s Interpretation of Charles Burchfield’s Watercolors
by Stephen Vermette

Charles Burchfield wrote “My diary seems to be a journal of the wind, sunshine and sky”, and one can say much the same for his watercolors. While some may travel the world to find nature’s beauty, Charles Burchfield found beauty in his own backyard – our backyard. His paintings offer an intimate study of our sky, winds, clouds, and our summer storms, as he wrote “I find no sympathetic beauty in the sky I have not lived under”. This presentation will attempt to draw out the essence of Burchfield’s sky and mingle it with the science of meteorology. As Charles Burchfield wrote: “A mild sunny day (completely cloudless) with a vigorous west wind – I knew I had to go out painting”.

 

Thursday, April 29, 7:00 pm

Rediscovering Burchfield
by Nancy Weekly

What power resides in Charles Burchfield’s artwork to have inspired a fresh perspective by contemporary artists and scholars! Robert Gober has successfully reached a new national audience by curating this retrospective. Art critic Dave Hickey agreed, writing: “In the aftermath of this exhibition, I hope, Burchfield will be more aptly regarded as the spine that runs through the history of American art in the first two-thirds of the twentieth century, an expedition bound for the post-World War II apocalypse in American art.” Representing the museum dedicated to Charles E. Burchfield, Nancy Weekly will discuss this well-deserved attention.

 

Thursday, May 6, 7:00 pm

Pencil in Hand; The Doodles of Charles E. Burchfield
by Tullis Johnson

In a manuscript from 1965 titled The Place of Drawing in an Artist’s Work Charles Burchfield wrote the following “It seems to me I have doodled all my life. I recall doodling on my mother’s Sunday tablecloth before I was of grade-school age. Perhaps I was born with a doodle pencil in my hand, the left one, in the same manner that a fortunate person is said to be born with a silver spoon in his mouth”. Join us for an analysis of the artist peculiar obsession.

 

Thursday, May 20, 7:00-9:00 pm

Lecture and Watercolor Demonstration
with Stephen Quiller

Stephen Quilller, a water media painter from Creede, Colorado, and an enthusiastic student of Charles Burchfield’s work, will demonstrate his approach to water media. Presented in collaboration with the Niagara Frontier Watercolor Society.

 

Saturday, May 22, 3:30 pm

Charles E. Burchfield Archive Presentation
with Tullis Johnson

Heat Waves in a Swamp draws heavily from the Charles E. Burchfield Archives at the Burchfield Penney Art Center. Tullis Johnson will explain the relevance of the archival material in the exhibition and highlight plans to make archive and collection material more accessible to the public.