After Charles Ephraim Burchfield (American, 1893-1967), Thirty-seven Wallpaper Samples (36 flat and one roll) for M.H. Birge and Sons,

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Fine Paintings & Sculpture

By Bonhams Skinner

Sep 23, 2016 - Sep 24, 2016

Set Reminder 2016-09-23 16:00:00 2016-09-24 16:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Fine Paintings & Sculpture https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/skinner/fine-paintings-sculpture-1730
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• Lot Description
  After Charles Ephraim Burchfield (American, 1893-1967)
  
  Thirty-seven Wallpaper Samples (36 flat and one roll) for M.H. Birge and Sons
  Many marked "DESIGNED BY BURCHFIELD" along the selvage, most with "BIRGE - MADE IN U.S.A." along the selvage.
  Flat sizes to approximately 37 x 22 in. (94.0 x 55.9 cm), roll 20 1/2 in. (52.0 cm) wide, (length not measured), unmatted, unframed.
  Condition: Some with tears through the sheet or to the margins.
  
  Provenance: Acquired directly from Martha Burchfield, the artist's daughter, in the early 1970s, to the current owner by family descent.
  
  N.B. From 1921 to 1929, Burchfield was a designer for H.M. Birge and Sons, a wallpaper company in Buffalo, New York. He began as an assistant in the design department, facilitated by an introduction through Henry Turner Bailey, dean of the Cleveland School of Art, to assist Burchfield upon graduation. The Birge firm produced a line of about 100 new designs each year, but Burchfield's original designs were classified as "Special" and were offered at a rate of one or two per year. In 1927 Burchfield was made head designer for the firm. He spent most of each year creating and overseeing designs, with the final quarter being consumed working through production and approving the printings in dozens of color schemes. The job at Birge was critical in the early 1920s for Burchfield to support a wife and growing family. However, he became increasingly disenchanted as the years passed, and, in the summer of 1929, when he had the opportunity to be represented as a fine artist by Frank Rehn gallery in New York, Burchfield quit the wall paper factory.
  
  Commenting on the Burchfield wallpaper designs, John I.H. Baur wrote that "the best...were densely patterned arrangements of wildflowers, weeds, and berries woven into flat designs that remind one remotely of the medieval mille fleurs tapestries...they reveal a decorative talent far exceeding commercial wallpaper work. This side of Burchfield's creative vision, which first emerged clearly in his art school posters, was one that he mistrusted and chose not to develop in his later work. But it should be recognized as one facet of his art." (1)
  
  1. John I.H. Baur, The Inlander, Life and Work of Charles Burchfield, 1893-1967 (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1982), p. 131.
  Estimate $2,000-4,000
  
  
  The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition or completely free from wear and tear, imperfections or the effects of aging. Condition requests can be obtained via email (lot inquiry button) or by telephone to the appropriate gallery location (Boston/617.350.5400 or Marlborough/508.970.3000). Any condition statement given, as a courtesy to a client, is only an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact. Skinner Inc. shall have no responsibility for any error or omission.
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