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Source Description
Burchfield considered this drawing among the greatest accomplishments of his “golden year.” This period followed a time of self-doubt and uncertainty: after graduating from the Cleveland School of Art, Burchfield enrolled in the National Academy of Design in New York City, but dropped out after one day, returning to Salem to work an office job. He painted inexhaustibly during his breaks and at night, depicting Salem and its environs in an increasingly abstract style.<br><br><em>Church Bells Ringing, Rainy Winter Night</em> shows the spire of Salem’s Baptist church rising up between two houses. Burchfield hoped to express his powerful childhood fear of the bell’s ominous ring—which he described as “a dull roar . . . dying slowly & with a growl.” Hearing it on stormy winter nights, he huddled in his bed and calmed himself by thinking of Christmas, a practice suggested by the tree visible through a window in the drawing. Burchfield carefully refined the composition throughout the sketches seen in this gallery.<br><br>The drawing’s mood is conveyed through gray tones and the buildings’ hulking forms. Burchfield also created a complex language of symbols entitled “Conventions for Abstract Thoughts,” that recurred throughout his work and represented universal emotions. The hooked forms surrounding the tower stood for “Fear,” for example, and the shapes of the houses’ doors and windows symbolize “Morbidness” and “Evil.” Developed fully in this drawing, these symbols dominated Burchfield’s work during the remaining several years he spent in Ohio.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
127227
label
Church Bells Ringing, Rainy Winter Night
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
127227
contentType
drawing
title
Church Bells Ringing, Rainy Winter Night
description
Burchfield considered this drawing among the greatest accomplishments of his “golden year.” This period followed a time of self-doubt and uncertainty: after graduating from the Cleveland School of Art, Burchfield enrolled in the National Academy of Design in New York City, but dropped out after one day, returning to Salem to work an office job. He painted inexhaustibly during his breaks and at night, depicting Salem and its environs in an increasingly abstract style.<br><br><em>Church Bells Ringing, Rainy Winter Night</em> shows the spire of Salem’s Baptist church rising up between two houses. Burchfield hoped to express his powerful childhood fear of the bell’s ominous ring—which he described as “a dull roar . . . dying slowly & with a growl.” Hearing it on stormy winter nights, he huddled in his bed and calmed himself by thinking of Christmas, a practice suggested by the tree visible through a window in the drawing. Burchfield carefully refined the composition throughout the sketches seen in this gallery.<br><br>The drawing’s mood is conveyed through gray tones and the buildings’ hulking forms. Burchfield also created a complex language of symbols entitled “Conventions for Abstract Thoughts,” that recurred throughout his work and represented universal emotions. The hooked forms surrounding the tower stood for “Fear,” for example, and the shapes of the houses’ doors and windows symbolize “Morbidness” and “Evil.” Developed fully in this drawing, these symbols dominated Burchfield’s work during the remaining several years he spent in Ohio.
date
December 1917
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60780835
creators
3989
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 77.2 x 50 cm (30 3/8 x 19 11/16 in.); Secondary Support: 77.5 x 50 cm (30 1/2 x 19 11/16 in.)
cul
America
accession
1949.544
Source extras
tec
watercolor and gouache over graphite on wove paper
tombstone
Church Bells Ringing, Rainy Winter Night, December 1917. Charles Burchfield (American, 1893–1967). Watercolor and gouache over graphite on wove paper; sheet: 77.2 x 50 cm (30 3/8 x 19 11/16 in.); secondary support: 77.5 x 50 cm (30 1/2 x 19 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Louise M. Dunn in memory of Henry G. Keller, 1949.544
supportMaterials
description
two sheets (joined) of cream(2) wove paper, laid down on cardboard
collection
DR - American 20th Century
inscriptions
inscription
signed, at lower right, in graphite: Chas E Burchfield / Dec. 1917
relatedWorks
id
130711
description
Winter Night, 1917. Charles Burchfield (American, 1893–1967). Black ink, black crayon, and graphite on two sheets of butt-joined paper, lined; sheet: 27.7 x 24.8 cm (10 7/8 x 9 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund, 1953.428. Reproduced with permission from the Charles E. Burchfield Foundation
didYouKnow
Salem's Baptist Church, a central feature of Burchfield's composition, has since been destroyed by fire.
citations
citation
<em>Charles Burchfield: Early Watercolors 1916 to 1918</em>. Exh. Cat. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1930.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 5-7, 11; Reproduced: plate 17
citation
Burroughs, Alan. <em>Limners and Likenesses: Three Centuries of American Painting</em>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1936.
citation
Watson, Forbes. <em>American Painting Today</em>. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Arts, 1939.
citation
<em>Exhibition of Paintings by Charles Burchfield</em>. Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland School of Art, 1941.
page_number
Mentioned: no. 16
citation
Soby, James Thrall and Dorothy C. Miller. <em>Romantic Painting in America</em>. Exh. Cat. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1943.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 42, 102; Reproduced: p. 103
citation
Soby, James Thrall. <em>Contemporary Painters</em>. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1948.
citation
Francis, Henry S. "'Church Bells Ringing: Rainy Winter Night' by Charles E. Burchfield." <em>Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art </em>37, no. 2 (February 1950): 23-24, repr. on cover.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 23-24; Reproduced on cover
citation
Baur, John Ireland Howe. "Burchfield's Intimate Diaries." <em>Art News </em>54 (January 1956): 27 (repr.).
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 27
citation
Bauer, John I. H. <em>Charles Burchfield. </em>Exh. Cat. New York: Whitney Museum, 1956.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 16, no. 11; Reproduced: no. 11
citation
Baur, John. "Fantasy and Symbolism in Charles Burchfield's Early Watercolors." <em>Art Quarterly </em>19 (Spring 1956): 30-40
page_number
Mentioned: p. 36-37; Reproduced: p. 36
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 556
citation
<em>The Decade of the Armory Show: New Directions in American Art, 1910 - 1920</em>. Exh. Cat. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1963.
page_number
Mentioned: no. 9; Reproduced
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 191
citation
Curry, Larry. <em>Eight American Masters of Watercolor: Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Maurice B. Prendergast, John Marin, Arthur G. Dove, Charles Demuth, Charles E. Burchfield, Andrew Wyeth</em>. Exh. Cat. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1968.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 15, no. 84; Reproduced
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 191
citation
Trovato, Joseph S. <em>Charles Burchfield: Catalogue of Paintings in Public and Private Collections</em>. Utica: Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, 1970.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 57; Mentioned: p. 70, no. 401
citation
Hamilton, George Heard. <em>19th and 20th Century Art: Paintings, Sculpture, Architecture</em>. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1970.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 303
citation
Hamilton, George Heard. <em>19th and 20th Century Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture</em>. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1970.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 303, fig. 281
citation
Trovato, Joseph S. <em>The Nature of Charles Burchfield: A Memorial Exhibition, 1893–1967, Paints, Drawings, Prints</em>. Exh. Cat. Utica, NY: Museum of Art, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, 1970.
page_number
Mentioned: no. 77
citation
Adams, Celeste, Rita Myers, and Adele Z. Silver. <em>An Introduction to American Art in the Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1972.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 18-19; Reproduced: p. 19
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 237
citation
Melvin, Ronald McKnight. <em>Five American Masters of Watercolor</em>. Evanston, IL: Terra Museum of American Art, 1981.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 30
citation
Baur, John I. H. <em>The Inlander: Life and Work of Charles Burchfield 1893-1967</em>. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1984.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 73; Reproduced: p. 80
citation
<em>The Early Works of Charles E. Burchfield, 1915-1921</em>. Exh. Cat. Columbus, Ohio: Columbus Museum of Art, 1987.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 10, 48; Mentioned: p. 67, no. 53
citation
Appelhof, Ruth Ann, Barbara Haskell, and Jeffrey Russell Hayes. <em>The Expressionist Landscape: North American Modernist Painting, 1920-1947</em>. Exh. Cat. Birmingham, AL: Birmingham Museum of Art, 1988.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 68
citation
<em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 146
citation
Townsend, J. Benjamin, ed. <em>Charles Burchfield's Journals: The Poetry of Place</em>. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 18-19, 28 no. 18, 112 no. 15, 136 no. 38, 311 no. 20, 332, 410 no. 13, 437, 577; Reproduced: p. 19
citation
Weekly, Nancy. <em>Charles E. Burchfield: The Sacred Woods</em>. Exh. Cat. Buffalo, NY: Burchfield Art Center, 1993.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 41-43, 115; Reproduced: p. 41
citation
Robinson, William H., and David Steinberg. <em>Transformations in Cleveland Art, 1796-1946: Community and Diversity in Early Modern America</em>. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996.
page_number
Referenced: cat. no. 44, p. 88-89, 104n., 56, 245, Reproduced: fig. 87
citation
Maciejunes, Nannette V., and Michael D. Hall. <em>The Paintings of Charles Burchfield: North by Midwest.</em> Exh. Cat. Columbus, OH: Columbus Museum of Art, 1997.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 113, 160-161, 264; Reproduced: p. 161
citation
Maciejunes ,Nannette V., and Norine S. Hendricks. "Nurturing His Muse: The Archives of Charles Burchfield's Creative Life." <em>American Art Journal </em>28, no. 1/2 (1997):
page_number
Reproduced: p. 32; Mentioned: p. 38
citation
DeGrazia, Diane, and Carter E. Foster. <em>Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 238-39, no. 100; Reproduced: p. 239
citation
Udall, Sharyn Rohlfsen. <em>Carr, O'Keeffe, Kahlo: Places of Their Own</em>. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 156
citation
Hunter, Sam, John M. Jacobus, and Daniel Wheeler. <em>Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture</em>. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2000.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 256
citation
Gober, Robert, Cynthia Burlingham, Dave Hickey, Tullis Johnson, and Nancy Weekly. <em>Heat Waves in a Swamp: The Paintings of Charles Burchfield</em>. Exh. Cat. Los Angeles: Hammer Museum, 2009.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 16, 18-19, 22, 26, 62 (repr.), 63, 162; Reproduced: p. 19
citation
Duncan, Michael. <em>"</em>Charles Burchfield: Into the Mystic." <em>Art in America</em> (February 2010): 94-101.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 98
citation
Welchans, Roger Anthony, Elizabeth McClelland, and Douglas Max Utter. <em>Joseph McCullough: Remembrances</em>. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Artists Archives of the Western Reserve, 2012.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 11
citation
Burns, Sarah. "'Better for Haunts': Victorian Houses and the Modern Imagination." <em>American Art</em> 26, no. 3 (2012): 2-25.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 13
citation
Adams, Henry, and Lawrence Waldman. <em>Painting in Pure Color: Modern Art in Cleveland Before the Armory Show (1908-1913)</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Artists Foundation, 2013.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 9-10; Reproduced: p. 11
citation
Weekly, Nancy and Audrey Lewis. <em>Exalted Nature: The Real and Fantastic World of Charles E. Burchfield.</em> Buffalo, NY: Burchfield Penney Art Center, SUNY Buffalo State, 2014.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 30, figure 15; Mention: p. 128
citation
Cozzolino, Robert, et. al., eds. <em>World War I and American Art. </em>Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 2016.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 199, pl. 63
citation
Salsbury, Britany. “Charles Burchfield's Golden Year: A new exhibition examines the Ohio-born artist's symbolic landscapes.” <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine </em>58, no. 6 (November/December 2018): 9.
page_number
Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 9
citation
Weekly, Nancy, and Burchfield-Penney Art Center. <em>Charles E. Burchfield: A Lifetime of Themes</em>. Edited by Mariel Bard. Buffalo: Burchfield Penney Art Center, 2023.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 46-47
catalogueRaisonne
Straus 280; Trovato 401
creditline
Gift of Mrs. Louise M. Dunn in memory of Henry G. Keller
updatedAt
2026-06-11 20:33:44.458000
sourceId
127227
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - American 20th Century
med
watercolor and gouache over graphite on wove paper
creatorTags
Cleveland Institute of Art (alumni)
male
May Show
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
1a88b5c3561b32ba