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Source Description
While sketching in the Ohio countryside in 1916, Burchfield began to represent the sun as a dramatic orb. This sheet is part of a group in which the artist suggested stained glass windows using trees and the sun. Here, branches reach toward the sun to form a dark, halo-like frame filled by sunlight that diffuses into an array of color. By combining landscape with religious iconography, Burchfield suggested the divine influence he saw in nature.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
173962
label
The Sun Through the Trees
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
173962
contentType
drawing
title
The Sun Through the Trees
description
While sketching in the Ohio countryside in 1916, Burchfield began to represent the sun as a dramatic orb. This sheet is part of a group in which the artist suggested stained glass windows using trees and the sun. Here, branches reach toward the sun to form a dark, halo-like frame filled by sunlight that diffuses into an array of color. By combining landscape with religious iconography, Burchfield suggested the divine influence he saw in nature.
date
June 30, 1917
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q117230290
creators
3989
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 55.9 x 45.7 cm (22 x 18 in.)
cul
America
accession
1930.849
Source extras
tec
Watercolor and opaque watercolor
tombstone
The Sun Through the Trees, June 30, 1917. Charles Burchfield (American, 1893–1967). Watercolor and opaque watercolor; sheet: 55.9 x 45.7 cm (22 x 18 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection, 1930.849
collection
DR - American 20th Century
formerAccessionNumbers
804.1930
didYouKnow
This work is an early example in which Burchfield began to paint directly and expressively with watercolor rather than carefully sketching out his composition in advance.
citations
citation
<em>Exhibition of Paintings by Charles Burchfield</em>. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland School of Art, 1941.
page_number
Mentioned: no. 2
citation
Trovato, Joseph S. <em>Charles Burchfield: Catalogue of Paintings in Public and Private Collections</em>. Utica: Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, 1970.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 64, no. 350
catalogueRaisonne
Straus 240; Trovato 350
creditline
Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:51:20.194000
sourceId
173962
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - American 20th Century
med
Watercolor and opaque watercolor
creatorTags
May Show
Cleveland Institute of Art (alumni)
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
a7d4b0a7503e0972