Renowned for his watercolor depictions of Upstate New York landscapes and town scenes, Burchfield moved from his birthplace in Ashtabula, Ohio, to Buffalo, New York, in 1921 to work as a designer for the H. M. Burge and Sons wallpaper company. His move to Buffalo marked the beginning of his exploration into painting the surrounding landscape in a realistic and sometimes semi-abstract manner.
Charles Ephraim Burchfield
Charles Ephraim Burchfield
It is not until the 1940s, a decade after resigning from his job as a designer, that he began making what he called “transcendental landscapes.” This shift led to the utilization of symbols that represented emotions in his work, or as he called them, “conventions of abstract thought.”
An artist must paint not what he sees in nature, but what is there. To do so he must invent symbols, which, if properly used, make his work seem even more real than what is in front of him.
—-Charles Burchfield
Autumnal Storm, a watercolor created in 1948, was acquired by the Art Institute of Chicago in 1951, and it’s one of 75,000 works of art on paper collected by the Prints and Drawings department.
On most days, our team of technicians in Paper Conservation—there are two of us—have a long list of projects that need attending to, but as I was caught up with my work momentarily, I decided to look through the permanently framed works in the collection. This task is necessary to ensure proper care of the collection, but it is also a great pleasure!
On this day, I examined the Charles Burchfield watercolor, which is housed in a molded frame painted with two tones of matte gray and surrounded by a linen-wrapped liner made of wood. I noticed that the liner was in direct contact with the watercolor itself. Over time acids present in the wood can darken paper or create a brown burn mark where it’s in contact around the edges. We can remedy this problem by lining the frame to stop the acids from migrating into the work on paper.
Before conservation
Note that the wooden liner is covered with white linen.
In fact, the condition of the frame overall was quite distressed, and thick aluminum foil was attached to the back with strips of masking tape. These visible materials led me to believe this frame had either never been opened, or it had not been opened in many decades. Whatever the case, this frame was in need of improvement, so I consulted curator Mark Pascale. We decided to explore the situation further and consider new framing options, as conservation practices are constantly evolving and improving over time.
Then, working with associate paper conservator Mary Broadway, we determined that the frame on Autumnal Storm might have been made by Burchfield himself. To check this hypothesis I consulted the article Description of Original Picture Frames on Watercolors by Charles Burchfield by Hugh Glover, the former Head Conservator of Furniture and Wood Objects at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center (WACC), which describes eight framed watercolors from the Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute. These framed works were brought to WACC for examination prior to inclusion in an exhibition and catalogue. All works had original frames, and seven of them came from the collection of Edward Wales Root, a well-known collector of Charles Burchfield’s work. The article describes the moldings, finishes, and construction of these original frames in detail, giving me substantial evidence to compare with our frame.
According to Glover’s article, Burchfield historically used commercial frame moldings with a gilded surface, combining moldings and strips before painting them with matte gray or white finishes, often layering two to three tones of gray on one frame. I was able to corroborate details and find anecdotal information about his framing process with the Burchfield Penney Art Center, who have the largest collection of works by Burchfield, including more than 70 volumes of handwritten journals and a recreation of his studio.
From Charles Burchfield’s untitled journal, Monday, September 8, 1947: “Spurred on by the need of getting my pictures to N.Y. as soon as possible, I spent the whole day in mixing dry color for frames, mats & antique — also making a cream emulsion for the antique…. Evening Hank down and helped sand the mats — we finished them all, and B rewarded him with a piece of her apple pie.”
Burchfield referred to the frame liner (the inner frame) as a mat. Both mats and liners provide a similar service—creating space between the artwork and glazing, as well as a border for the eye to rest between the painting and frame. Looking closely at our frame, I could see a small amount of gold sparkle under areas of the gray finish, the residue from the gilding on the commercial molding, and it is clear on the back of the frame that two tones of gray have been used.
Note the corrugated metal hardware used to hold the joints together
Among the eight frames that were examined by Glover, he said: “No two frames are identical in their size or molding profile, however all frames, except Flame of Spring, have a rounded ovolo or torus top molding followed by a cove, and these profiles are similar enough to assume they came from the same commercial mill shop.” Though not exactly the same as Glover’s diagrams, our frame has many similarities:
- An ovolo or rounded top and cove combination
- Frame construction with miter cuts on the commercial molding
- Lap joints on the wooden strips that build up the frame
- Wooden strips on the back were attached with nails which go through the highest point on the face of the frame (ovolo) and are patched to hide the nail heads
Frame example from the Glover article: ovolo top molding (1), a cove (2), a flat (3); a cove (4), a torus (5), the outside profile is a cove (6), a small ovolo (7), and a small cove (8).
Liner: flat with bevel at sight edge
Removing the angled nails that attach the frame liner to the frame.
As are several frames noted in the Hugh Glover article, ours is made of a softwood like pine and has an exposed nail head that matches this description exactly. I was curious about the corrugated metal hardware used to hold the joints together. Was this type of hardware in use in 1948? According to Glover, this is the same type of hardware used in the description of joinery on Sphinx and the Milky Way from 1946 and Flame of Spring from 1948. Considering all of these details, I am completely convinced that the frame on the Art Institute of Chicago’s Autumnal Storm is an original frame made by Charles Burchfield.
Our linen wrapped liner, however, didn’t match Glover’s descriptions. As noted in the article, “All eight frames have flat or beveled liners painted after assembly with matte white or off-white paint that contrasts with the color and luster of the frame paint.” The shape of our liner was correct, the wood was rough-cut on the sides as expected, and the liner attached to the frame with angled nails. Closer inspection revealed that there were two sets of holes inside the frame, suggesting the liner was removed and then reattached upside down, causing a second set of holes in the frame. I believe the frame was altered after it was acquired in 1951, and at that time the liner was wrapped in linen to make it look more like an oil painting, and the glazing was changed from glass to acrylic. The linen was adhered with heat-activated mounting tissue that became dry and desiccated, and I was able to remove the linen and tissue easily, revealing remnants of the original white painted finish, although most of the paint was now missing.
Original liner with the linen removed
Our former technician in Frame Conservation, Milan Bobysud, restored the liner using milk and casein paint and then consolidated the frame losses with animal hide glue and toned them using casein paint.
The refinished liner is now attached to the restored frame, and non-glare acrylic glazing with UV protection has been added to protect the delicate watercolor from light. In order to keep the edge of the painting from contacting the wooden frame, I added a barrier layer using strips of aluminized nylon and polyethylene barrier film that resists the passage of pollutants from the wood.
In his article, Glover quotes Paul Scheizer, director emeritus of the Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute: “Their simplicity makes the frames look ‘like poor cousin’ beside more opulently reframed Burchfields in other collections.”
We should consider ourselves very lucky to have one of these poor cousins in our collection! This Charles Burchfield watercolor will be kept in its original frame—protected for years to come.
—Mardy Sears, senior conservation technician, paper, Conservation and Science
NOTES
Learn more about the Williamstown Art Conservation Center and the Burchfield Penney Art Center.
