Since we have bought this place it makes a difference – I like to think of it as a little community – a narrow strip of land – (33 X 450) in which the lesser creatures & insects belong as much as we do – Besides my wife & I, and our little children there are the hoptoads, and snails and angleworms – and visiting robins starlings, sparrows, and grackles, and there aren’t so many but that they become familiar, and seem as if they might have names – they attain significance because the earth that supports them is ours—
Charles E. Burchfield, June 23, 1929
BurchFest: The second annual celebration of Charles Burchfield’s only home & studio will take place at numerous West Seneca venues on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024.
Photo shown is the 1st BurchFest featuring Burchfield’s original art studio. Paintings were set up on easels showcasing where Charles Burchfield actually painted the exact subject matters.
Burchfield’s “gateway” between two worlds…
Take a peek into our ‘Five Year Goals’ for the Charles Burchfield Home & Studio.
What if we told you, an amazing artifact of American art history has been hidden in the streets of West Seneca (greater Buffalo area) for almost 60 years?
What if we told you, that one of the greatest American painters lived there and created original works of art inspired by this exact location for almost 40 years?
What if we told you, over 30 million dollars of art originated from the studio on this site?
What if we told you, this piece of history was almost lost to all of us and future generations to come?
Our names are Alexander and Brittany Miller. We are the private owners of Charles Burchfield’s Home and Studio (established 2020) and it is our mission to share these treasures with you.
We’ve looked into the deepest parts to see what lies beyond the surface. Charles E. Burchfield left a story for someone to tell and we’ve found it.
Thirty-seven years spent on this 33×450 foot property, creating a masterpiece. Now you can experience it though his eyes & mind. We welcome you to take the virtual tour…
Life magazine anointed him as one of America’s greatest painters, and President Lyndon B. Johnson called Burchfield “artist to America.” 🇺🇸
“I’ve painted almost everything you can see from the studio windows,” Burchfield said in 1953. “One of my ambitions is some day to collect all of the pictures again. Then I would have an exhibit called “From My Backyard”. – -Charles E. Burchfield
Burchfield had a studio built behind his home in September 1928, three and a half years after he moved to West Seneca, New York. During the summer of 1930, he had the studio moved on a concrete foundation further back in the deep, narrow lot. Repairs and alterations were made to this house, garage, studio, and yard in 1959-60. The studio was then attached to additional, smaller structures to provide more space for painting, storing works, and for constructing frames.
This picture was taken in front of the artist’s home in West Seneca.
Charles E. Burchfield’s letter to J.J. Lankes, March, 23 1926:“With Spring in the offing – I find Gardenville full of material again… I am realizing more & more that for an artist – here & now, this very spot wherever he happens to be is the very time & place he should express.”
🇺🇸”Artist to America”🇺🇸 President Lyndon B. Johnson eulogized the artist in a letter dated November 14, 1967. President Johnson wrote “He [Burchfield] was artist to America.” Later on… President Lyndon B. Johnson said, “In his paintings of the American scene, his brush endowed the ordinary with universal greatness. During a period of urbanization and industrialization, he focused our vision on the eternal greatness of living things.”
“On two occasions recently my clock has stopped in the middle of the night. I would wake up and hear the clock steadily ticking—suddenly without warning it would stop—it had an ominous character all out of proportion to the fact. After all, I had simply forgotten to wind it. A heart could stop beating like that.” Charles E. Burchfield, Journals, August 25, 1947
Charles Burchfield passed away from a heart attack twenty years after this journal entry was written.
Finding the grave of Charles E. Burchfield and paying our respects at Oakwood Cemetery in East Aurora, New York…
West Seneca, New York – A collection of historic destinations within walking distance, including the home and studio of world-renowned American painter Charles E. Burchfield, located in West Seneca, New York.
“I was born in, and grew up, in humble circumstances — and all my life the subject matter for my art has been the same sort of material – I have tried to show, not that the most modest home is dismal or worthy of our pity, but that therein life is dignified and deserving of our highest respect—I think it will always be so, nay more, I hope it will always be that way. Those artists, writers etc. who, on achieving their first fame and material reward, immediately flee from their former surroundings and settle in “better” locations merely reveal their shallowness, and more, are denying themselves their birthright. In my present circumstances, I could live in a more “stylish” neighborhood — in the “right” neighborhood as vulgar minds so designate it— The odd thing is that I am now in the right neighborhood, and my neighbors are the right people.” – -Charles E. Burchfield, Journals, Vol. 59, December 22, 1960.
– -Edward Hopper.
Beautifully done video showcasing & understanding the art of Burchfield.
“As an artist grows older, he has to fight disillusionment and learn to establish the same relation to nature as an adult, as he had when a child.”
– – Charles E. Burchfield
This website is used for educational purposes and not for profit.