America / June 30, 1917
The Sun Through the Trees
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs The Sun Through the Trees as drawing (America · June 30, 1917).
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.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this drawing as Watercolor and opaque watercolor and credits Charles Burchfield (American, 1893–1967).
The museum's collection notes: 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.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtThe Sun Through the TreesOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.