New Moon

November 1917

New Moon, November 1917. Charles Burchfield (American, 1893–1967). Watercolor and opaque watercolor with graphite on wove paper; sheet: 45.9 x 55.1 cm (18 1/16 x 21 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Anonymous gift in memory of Henry G. Keller 1954.569 Reproduced with permission from the Charles E. Burchfield Foundation This drawing represents a house in Burchfield's hometown, Salem, Ohio. Burchfield described passing the rundown building that he described as a “big black hulk against the pink sky” and being overcome by his desire to record its “character.” The house’s sinking, curved form and the shapes within the windows suggest Burchfield’s development of symbols and the foreboding mood of his work at this time. The curved forms in the windows and roof of the building correspond with a system of symbols that Burchfield developed in 1917 to express universal moods and emotions.