To me, the haunting watercolor paintings of Burchfield (1893-1967) capture a certain dark, late-October magic.
Much of his work features fluid, distorted proportions that create an off-kilter viewing experience. They’re like van Goghs but with the lights off.
From a 2005 article in the Village Voice: “Young painters should look at the work of Charles Burchfield, the mystic, cryptic painter of transcendental landscapes, trees with telekinetic halos, and haunted houses emanating ectoplasmic auras.”
Burchfield created more than half of his entire body of work during the two years he lived in Salem, from 1915-1917. The largest collection of his art can now be found at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, whose website includes a gallery of over 100 paintings.
THE SKELETON KEY 
3 responses to “Rabbit Hole: Artist Charles E. Burchfield”
Very nice stuff. That first piece especially reminds me of late October days.
Agreed! The first painting and the fire one are my two favorites. 🙂
Of course this post will be a favorite . . . Birchfield does an excellent job at expressing ‘mood’ in his images, think he might already be on my favorite artist list. Good post!