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Telegraph Pole
193523 3/8 x 20 7/8 in. (59.4 x 53 cm)
Charles Ephraim Burchfield
United States (Ashtabula Harbor, OH, 1893 - 1967, Buffalo, NY)
Object Type:
Watercolor
Medium and Support:
Watercolor, charcoal and graphite
Credit Line:
Gift of Mrs. Charles H. Babcock
Accession Number:
1947.105
Location: Not currently on view
As a symbol of American invention and progress, the telegraph pole and its wires frame a depressing landscape. The curved pole, clearly a tree cut down and stripped of its bark and limbs, is a powerful metaphor for the abuse that man and nature experience under the unstoppable momentum of industry. Railroad tracks lined by austere workers’ huts lead the viewer’s eyes back to an industrial inferno.
Buffalo artist Charles Burchfield felt a great deal of reverence for the natural world. His nuanced depictions of the industrial landscape were indictments of environmental abuse.
[label text for Modern Icon: The Machine As Subject in American Art exhibition, February 3 – March 6, 2012]
Buffalo artist Charles Burchfield felt a great deal of reverence for the natural world. His nuanced depictions of the industrial landscape were indictments of environmental abuse.
[label text for Modern Icon: The Machine As Subject in American Art exhibition, February 3 – March 6, 2012]
Narrative
Telegraph Pole first came to the Gallery as part of the "Lending Library of American Art," a unique venture whereby Gallery members were enabled to borrow "for a nominal fee" and ultimately purchase "excellent average-priced paintings by outstanding American artists." The project, which was sponsored by the Gallery's Women's Council, initially included works by such contemporary American artists as Charles Burchfield, John Stuart Curry, Rockwell Kent, Reginald Marsh, and others, some 90 artists in all.
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Exhibition List
This object was included in the following exhibitions:
- Second Biennial Exhibition: Part Two—Watercolors and Pastels Whitney Museum of American Art 2/18/1936 - 3/18/1936
- Selections from the Permanent Collection Summer 1975
- Order and Enigma: American Art Between the Two Wars Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute 10/13/1984 - 3/2/1986
- American Drawings and Watercolors, 1800-1945: Selections from the Permanent Coll Memorial Art Gallery 10/31/1987 - 1/3/1988
- City Critique: Burchfield's Commentary on the Early 20th Century Metropolis 10/29/2005 - 4/15/2006
- Modern Icon: The Machine as Subject in American Art Memorial Art Gallery 2/3/2012 - 5/6/2012
- Charles Burchfield's Blistering Vision 7/8/2016 - 10/23/2016
Bibliography
This object has the following bibliographic references:
- Article Title: The Lending Library of American Art. Article Scope: Entry and reproduction. Memorial Art Gallery. Gallery Notes. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 1935-1995. Volume Number: 7, Issue Number: 2. Issue Date: November 1941. Page Number: 6
- Article Author: Whiting, F.A., Jr. . Article Title: A Note on Burchfield. Article Scope: Article and reproduction. Magazine of Art. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Arts Volume Number: 30 Issue Date: June 1937. Page Number: 352, Figure Number: opposite p. 352
- Article Scope: Entry. Charles Burchfield: Catalogue of Paintings in Public and Private Collections. Utica, NY: Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, 1970.
- Article Author: Weekly, Nancy. Article Title: Charles Burchfield: Cat-Eyed House; Springtime in the Pool; Telegraph Pole. Article Scope: Chapter and reproduction. Marjorie B. Searl, ed. Seeing America: painting and sculpture from the collection of the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 2006. Page Number: 190-196
- Article Scope: Entry. Second Biennial Exhibition, Watercolors and Pastels. New York, NY: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1936.
- Article Scope: Reproduction only. Tullis Johnson. Blistering Vision: Charles E. Burchfield's Sublime American Landscapes. Buffalo, NY: Burchfield Penney Art Center, 2016.
- Article Scope: Mention and reproduction. Marjorie Searl and Lu Harper. The Memorial Art Gallery: 100 Years. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 2013.
Portfolio List
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This object is a member of the following portfolios:
Web Links
See links to web pages and lesson plans
Seeing America Inservice
Materials from a teacher in-service presentation Spring 2008
Seeing America
Chapter on Charles Burchfield's paintings Cat-Eyed House, Springtime in the Pool, and Telegraph Pole, written by Nancy Weekly.