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The Sphinx and the Milky Way: Selections from the Journals of Charles Burchfield
Mystical and everyday reveries from the visionary American modernist In the early years of the 20th century, Charles Burchfield painted mystic and visionary landscapes, and with some of his contemporaries, including Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe and Grant Wood, can be seen to have built the foundations of a particularly North American sensibility that critic Dave Hickey said "continues to evoke an unrepentant, gnostic vision of this vast, rolling, abandoned continent―America without Europe―America without Americans―a massive, alluring kingdom."
For nearly his entire life, Burchfield also kept a journal. Over 54 years, he filled nearly 10,000 pages. To call this journal epic would be an understatement. A masterpiece whose bulk has remained unread, it is a handwritten tome that combines elements of the American nature journal with a dash of 19th-century spiritual autobiography. It is a record of a man who spent much of his life looking at and considering the sky.
In this comparatively small selection pulled from the original 62 volumes, we find Burchfield writing about sitting in the grass with his wife to nap and watch the sunset. He writes about the elation he feels at seeing the first flowers in the spring. He writes about the rain, wind and sun. There’s the resentment of having a job; the depression that sneaks in as he gets older; sometimes, too, he writes about the state of human progress; and occasionally, thoughts about God. It is the tender record of a life devoted to the essences of earthly beauty.
Best known for his romantic, often fantastic depictions of nature, watercolorist Charles Burchfield (1893–1967) developed a unique style of watercolor painting that reflected distinctly American subjects and his profound respect for nature.
For nearly his entire life, Burchfield also kept a journal. Over 54 years, he filled nearly 10,000 pages. To call this journal epic would be an understatement. A masterpiece whose bulk has remained unread, it is a handwritten tome that combines elements of the American nature journal with a dash of 19th-century spiritual autobiography. It is a record of a man who spent much of his life looking at and considering the sky.
In this comparatively small selection pulled from the original 62 volumes, we find Burchfield writing about sitting in the grass with his wife to nap and watch the sunset. He writes about the elation he feels at seeing the first flowers in the spring. He writes about the rain, wind and sun. There’s the resentment of having a job; the depression that sneaks in as he gets older; sometimes, too, he writes about the state of human progress; and occasionally, thoughts about God. It is the tender record of a life devoted to the essences of earthly beauty.
Best known for his romantic, often fantastic depictions of nature, watercolorist Charles Burchfield (1893–1967) developed a unique style of watercolor painting that reflected distinctly American subjects and his profound respect for nature.
174 pages, Paperback
Published October 17, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 23, 2024
The Sphinx and the Milky Way collects intimate journal entries from American painter Charles Burchfield, distilling his vast 10,000-page journals into a small but potent volume. Through his eyes, we experience both the transcendent and mundane - from counting cricket chirps to tell the temperature, to profound reflections on infinity while studying pussy willows. Burchfield's entries reveal a mind deeply attuned to nature's mysteries, yet also touched by very human struggles with depression and money worries. His observations shift seamlessly between precise detail and cosmic wonder, creating a quiet but profound meditation on what it means to truly see the world around us. If you're a sensitive spirit yearning to find meaning in this chaotic world, this book isn't just a recommendation - it's essential nourishment for your inner life.
December 28, 2025
it has been so nice to pick at this over the past year like some kind of devotional.. as this book loves to remind us, Burchfield wrote 10,000 pages of journal entries across 72 volumes over the course of 54 years. this book reproduces maybe 100 entries, which feels a little like a greatest-hits compilation. the intensity of these entries made it hard to read more than 1-2 at a time, and dates throughout make it obvious that we are skipping years at a time. i wish we were given more of the mundanity of Burchfield's life, a deeper understanding and sense of dailiness.
nyc-heads last time i went to MoMA there was a Burchfield up in gallery 509 that knocked my socks off. <3 thanks talia for last year's bday present
nyc-heads last time i went to MoMA there was a Burchfield up in gallery 509 that knocked my socks off. <3 thanks talia for last year's bday present
March 7, 2024
Charles Burchfield filled almost 10,000 pages with his diary entries which is crazy!! These selections show that he wasn’t just a brilliant painter but an amateur naturalist and a devoted father and husband. Even through self doubt and hardships, Burchfield maintains a sense of wonder for the world around him.
February 15, 2024
Charles Burchfield's paintings speak for themselves, but here one receives an accompanying commentary of an observant soul that recognized the beauty of nature in all its seasons, and of one who was happy to be an amateur naturalist because all discoveries were new. One also receives brief records of the moods of an artist that struggled to make a career of his art, and an animosity towards God that turned to warmth due to the love and faith of his wife. While Burchfield's great contributions remain in his outward gaze, these inner reflections show a through-line of that outward natural beauty and how it slowly worked its way into his own soul.
February 26, 2024
I have loved Burchfield's paintings for years. This book was a gift, and I had relatively low expectations, but wow I loved this book. The selections from his journals are excellent - he was a beautiful thinker and writer without pretension and it did add a layer to the paintings. I highly recommend. It's been my joy the past week's mornings when the world feels so dark and serious otherwise.
September 5, 2024
He gets wiser over the years and his observations more poignant. The paintings are amazing throughout.
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January 18, 2026The part about mushroom hunting has my heart 🤌🏻
October 26, 2023
What a beautiful book, so wisely selected, what a wonderful introduction to my favorite artist, Charles Burchfield. What a particular and peculiar visionary! While I've witnessed his paintings and read the whole gigantic book of his journals, it's sweet to have selections collected in this way. Please look into it!
"I would be so sensitive to Nature's moods--so close that a coming change would make itself known in the look of a house hours or even days in advance--"
(journal entry, 12/9/1917)
“How is it possible to make people understand that artists are not interested in art?”
(7/14/1941)
“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.”
(8/25/1947)
“How slowly the ‘secrets” of my art come to me . . . When I said this to Bertha, she said ‘Aren’t you thankful that at 71 years old, new secrets are still being revealed to you?’ And I certainly am.”
(3/30/1964)
"I would be so sensitive to Nature's moods--so close that a coming change would make itself known in the look of a house hours or even days in advance--"
(journal entry, 12/9/1917)
“How is it possible to make people understand that artists are not interested in art?”
(7/14/1941)
“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.”
(8/25/1947)
“How slowly the ‘secrets” of my art come to me . . . When I said this to Bertha, she said ‘Aren’t you thankful that at 71 years old, new secrets are still being revealed to you?’ And I certainly am.”
(3/30/1964)
January 15, 2025
it was nice. i was unfamiliar with burchfield's work before this and what a wonderful introduction! i'd love to see more of his paintings in person; very cool to support different entries with these wonderfully reproduced full-color images, including some of unfinished or partially developed work. he was really seeing the blood & bones of god & translating it all to the page -- ecstatic movement !!! breath of life !!! burchfield's voice and eye are sweet & scintillatingly discerning in turn. tho, reading stuff from 1940s white america always puts a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. lots that isn't said at such an... active time in history; at a certain point one starts to feel bitter about all the pondering & sweetness. i get that perhaps the feeling is unreasonable. the paintings are very good. why dont you go look at chiura obata sumi-e on google images & calm down
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews