San Diego Museum of Art

☰ Open Filter >>

Modern and Contemporary

Showing 5 of 82

Print this page

Additional Images Click an image to view a larger version

Bookmark: https://collection.sdmart.org/objects-1/info/1024

Rainy Night

Charles Ephraim Burchfield, American, (April 9, 1893–January 10, 1967)

Creation date: 1929-1930

Creation place: United States

Other Information

Type: Watercolor Painting

Medium and Support: Watercolor over graphite on paper

Credit Line: Gift of Anne R. and Amy Putnam

Accession Number: 1939.97

State/Province: New York

Dimensions: 30 in. x 42 in. (76.2 cm x 106.68 cm)

Provenance

Frank K.M. Rehn Gallery, New York, NY (1931 - December, 1939)

Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego, San Diego, California (December, 1939 - )

Label Copy

AMERICAN INSTALLATION
October 2004
Rainy Night, a view of a shabby Victorian tenement on the northeast corner of Broadway and Elliott in Buffalo, New York, emphasizes the dreariness associated with small industrial cities in the 1930s. Burchfield is most known for his use of watercolor which he applied in an unusual way, building up small brushstrokes of transparent color one over the other to create solid forms and spaces. His mastery of the depiction of light, which he used to reveal, conceal, and dramatize scenes, is apparent in this nighttime scene of a rain-slicked street illuminated by the artificial illumination cast by store windows and street lamps.
Last Updated: 8/31/2011

Exhibition

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

Thirtieth International Exhibition of Paintings , 10/15/1931 - 12/6/1931

Golden Gate International Exposition Golden Gate International Exposition , 5/25/1940 - 9/29/1940

Charles Burchfield: A Retrospective Exhibition of Water colors and Oils, 1916-1943 Albright Art Gallery , 4/14/1944 - 5/15/1944

[Charles Burchfield] , 4/1/1970 - 6/30/1970

Charles Burchfield Exhibition and Film , 9/6/1976 - 10/23/1976

American Painting 1908-1935 , 8/19/1977 - 11/27/1977

Charles E. Burchfield , 2/12/1979 - 3/15/1979

Charles Burchfield , 11/9/1980 - 12/28/1980

Charles Burchfield: A Retrospective , 4/20/1984 - 11/11/1984

On the Middle Border: The Art of Charles E. Burchfield , 3/23/1997 - 1/25/1998

The Paintings of Charles Burchfield: North by Midwest , 6/15/1997 - 8/19/1997

Mastering the Medium: American Watercolors from the Museum's Collection, 1870– San Diego Museum of Art , 11/16/2002 - 1/19/2003

Urban Banality The San Diego Museum of Art , 7/9/2016 - 10/23/2016

Bibliography

This object has the following bibliographic references:

Dr. Malcolm Warner. San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego Museum of Art. San Diego, California, 1993
Page Number: 223, 234, 235, Figure Number: 235

Mr. Reginald Poland. A Catalogue of European Paintings, 1300-1870 San Diego Museum of Art. San Diego, California, 1947
Page Number: 11

The Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego Catalogue: San Diego Museum of Art. San Diego, California, 1960
Page Number: 10, 11, Figure Number: 10

David C. King. The United States and Its People Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.. Menlo Park, California, 1995
Page Number: 552, Figure Number: 552B

Charles Burchfield: Museum of Art, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute. Utica, New York, 1970
Page Number: 140, no. 764, 143, Figure Number: 764

Glencoe Literature, The Reader's Choice: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill. Westerville, Ohio, 2000
Page Number: 605, R137, Figure Number: 605

Glencoe Literature, The Reader's Choice: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill. Westerville, Ohio, 2000
Page Number: 566, R138, Figure Number: 566

Rob Moore. Advancing Philanthropy National Society of Fund Raising Executives. Alexandria, Virginia, Fall, 1994
Page Number: 26, Figure Number: 26

Matthew Baigell. Charles Burchfield Watson-Guptill Publications. New York, New York, 1976
Page Number: 101, Figure Number: 21

Matthew Baigell. Charles Burchfield Watson-Guptill Publications. New York, New York, 1976
Page Number: 128

Hermon More. Golden Gate International Exposition, The Recorder Printing & Publishing Co.. San Francisco, California, 1940
Page Number: 130 no. 1282, 145, Figure Number: 1282

William R. Wilson. The Los Angeles Times Book of California Museums Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated. New York, New York, 1986
Page Number: 266, 267, 269, Figure Number: 220

William Wyatt Davenport. Art Treasures in the West Lane Magazine & Book Company. Menlo Park, California, 1966
Page Number: 94-95, Figure Number: 94-95

Mr. D. Scott Atkinson. San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego Museum of Art. San Diego, California, 2003
Page Number: 187, Figure Number: 187

Mr. John H. Conlin, ed. Western New York Heritage, WNY Heritage Press, Inc.. Cheektowaga, New York, Winter 2004
Page Number: cover, 1, Figure Number: cover, 1

Dr. James A. Clapp, Ph.D.. California Cityscapes San Diego Museum of Art. San Diego, California, 1991
Page Number: 8, Figure Number: 8

Dr. James A. Clapp, Ph.D.. This Urban Life: Author House. Bloomington, Indiana, 2005
Page Number: 150, Figure Number: 150

Andrew Ritchie. Charles Burchfield: A Retrospective Exhibition of Water Colors and Oils, 1916-1943 Buffalo Fine Arts Academy. Buffalo, New York, 1944
Figure Number: 27

J. Benjamin Townsend, ed. Charles Burchfield's Journals State University of New York Press. Albany, New York, 1993
Page Number: 564-565