What Do You See? The Collection of Sidney Rothberg, Part III

Unframed.

We wish to thank Nancy Weekly at the Burchfield Penney Art Center for her kind assistance in cataloguing the present work.

Provenance:

Christie's, New York, sale of September 27, 1990, lot 243 (part lot).

Acquired directly from the above sale.

Lot Essay:

This evocative watercolor and pencil sketch on paper stands as atypical for Charles E. Burchfield, as the artist rarely depicted people in his compositions. While their identity remains unknown, it is plausible they were faculty members at the Cleveland School of Art, where Burchfield was active for much of May 1916.

Although the work is unsigned, it is inscribed in the artist's hand on the verso, where the four corners bear clear evidence of the work having been originally mounted on gray paper—a practice Burchfield often employed for his early pieces.