Artwork
The Sun Through the Trees
The Sun Through the Trees is a drawing by Charles Burchfield. It dates from 30 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
- Accession no.
- 1930.849
- Credit line
- Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection
About this work
You see a bright sun glowing through a tangle of dark tree branches.
Burchfield drew this in 1917, turning sunlight into a kind of stained glass. The branches act like a frame, making the sun feel almost holy. He wanted nature to feel full of meaning, not just pretty.
If you like this, look up sfumato, the way soft edges blur light and shadow.
Overview
The Sun Through the Trees is a drawing created by Charles Burchfield in 1917, depicting a sun shining through a tangle of tree branches.
Subject & Meaning
The drawing combines natural elements with religious iconography, as the branches form a dark, halo-like frame around the sun, suggesting a divine presence in the natural world.
Technique & Style
Burchfield's use of soft edges and diffused light creates a sense of luminosity, reminiscent of stained glass or the sfumato technique, where boundaries between light and shadow are blurred.
Artist & collection
Artist
Charles Ephraim Burchfield (April 9, 1893 – January 10, 1967) was an American painter and visionary artist, known for his passionate watercolors of nature scenes and townscapes.
