Artwork Page for Sulphur Stream in Woods

Details / Information for Sulphur Stream in Woods

Sulphur Stream in Woods

1917

Charles Burchfield

(American, 1893–1967)
Culture
America
Medium
watercolor, gouache, conté crayon, and pencil on paper
Measurements
Sheet: 50.8 x 45.7 cm (20 x 18 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of the Thomas H. Horner and Virginia Jackson Horner Trust 2024.50
Catalogue raisonné
Trovato 359
Copyright
Copyright
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

Charles Burchfield kept journals in which he explained his artworks and the deeply personal symbolism within them.

Description

Charles Burchfield was fascinated by the bright yellow tones of the sulfurous water—colored by sediment—common in mining areas around Salem. He described the stream seen here as “a twisting ribbon of bright orange, coming out from a twisting rail-fence at my feet . . . I looked at it a long time, wishing . . . I could make an attempt of painting [it].” In the drawing, the stream divides areas of barren yellow at left and lush green at right, suggesting the environmental impact of mining on the eastern Ohio landscape, which continues today as fracking expands in the area.
A vertically oriented watercolor and gouache painting depicts a landscape of jagged, pointed forms. To the left, a tan embankment slants toward a thin orange stream winding away. Dominating the right, a spindly white birch with sharp black branches stands against dense green and yellow foliage filled with white saw-toothed patterns. In the foreground, repeated yellow and green zigzags create vibrating grass, while stylized trees cluster in the distance.

Sulphur Stream in Woods

1917

Charles Burchfield

(American, 1893–1967)
America

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