The Scribe - Page 7

Burchfield Homestead Curator Cheryl Mattevi said many of his pieces evoke childhood memories, nightmares, dreams, or the landscape of Salem through Burchfield’s eyes. “When you see his paintings, you recognize them, even though they’re very different. Some of them are very pretty, and some of them are very dark,” Mattevi said. “When he looks at something, he feels it.” Looking at his paintings is an experience, Mattevi added. One can hear bird song in the trees or wind rustling leaves. In the 1940s Burchfield returned to several 1917 pieces to expand them, pasting paper behind the original to enlarge the work to match his vision. After getting married and landing a job as a wallpaper designer, Burchfield moved and spent much of his career in Buffalo, New York. In Buffalo, his style matured and his work became more realistic. The Burchfield Penney Art Center was later established to showcase his work and journals. Preserving A Legacy: Burchfield Homestead From Tucson, Arizona to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Charles Burchfield’s work has been displayed across the country. Yet his hometown of Salem, Ohio still works to preserve his legacy, where his artistic roots began. The Burchfield Homestead museum has preserved the original Salem home of the Burchfields on East 4th Street. With the help of Charles’ meticulous journals, curator Mattevi said they have tried to keep the home and garden just as it would have been when the Burchfields lived there. Copies of his work are displayed near the exact windows Burchfield would have looked out of to sketch it. Museum historians have also made it their mission to expand Burchfield’s influence to the modern age, with the creation of a QR-code led walking tour in Salem, making Burchfield’s work accessible to all. The Scribe - Page 7HISTORY