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The Artist at Work: The Paintings of Charles Burdick

October 2 - November 11, 2007

 

In 2000 -- for reasons now forgotten -- Wellfleet octogenarian Charles Burdick began painting well-known artists as they might have appeared while creating their masterpieces. French Impressionists and post-Impressionists are far and away his favorites, possibly because their works are widely recognized (the recognition factor certainly playing a key part in making his paintings fun). Burdick refers to photos of the artists and images of their artworks as he develops plausible scenarios. He imagines the artists in their studios, with canvases famous and not-so-famous covering the walls. Or if they painted en plein air, he places them outdoors in the very landscapes we know so well from their masterworks. It's a charming gimmick that doesn't seem at all gimmicky because of the sincerity and sweetness that shine through in every picture. Burdick's recipe for art history is whimsical without being cute and amusing without being at all tongue-in-cheek.

In addition to this relatively recent series, Burdick continues to paint animals, the subject that's occupied him in one form or another since the 1950s and '60s, when his specialties were spirited steeds and smoldering bulls inspired by Greek mythology. Since the 1980s, such themes as "Noah's Ark" and "The Peaceable Kingdom" have been habitats for his lovable-looking horses, unicorns, zebras, tigers and lions. More recently, Burdick has found new possibilities for animal paintings in lighthearted circus performances and medieval hunting scenes.

Born in 1924 in Providence, Burdick won a scholarship to attend a class at Rhode Island School of Design when he was 9. (It seems his tales of drawing nudes astonished his young pals even more than his talent did.) During World War II, he lied about his age to get into the Army. Following service as a paratrooper, he enrolled at RISD for one year, then transferred to the Art Students League in New York, where his instructors included such notable artists as Reginald Marsh, Will Barnett and Edwin Dickinson. While there, he also studied graphics with Harry Sternberg, author of several books on printmaking. Burdick found he had a talent for etching and soon began winning acceptance into national juried print exhibitions at such venues as the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Philadelphia Museum of Art and Provincetown Art Association.

Burdick began to concentrate more on painting when he began selling his work in the legendary Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit in Greenwich Village in 1952. "I just dragged myself down on the subway with all my stuff and set it up," he recalls. His colorful scenes of the East River proved popular, and he discovered he loved dealing directly with his collectors and exercising his prowess as a salesman. Sometimes he also made connections with gallery owners who wanted to carry his work.

Burdick primarily supported his family of five by selling his work at such outdoor art shows. Since 1976, he's frequently shown at fine art festivals in Florida, where he spends several winter months on the east coast, in Sebastian. These are all juried shows, with prizes for exceptional work, and Burdick continues to receive his share of awards. In 2006, he won an Award of Distinction at a show in Naples, Fla. Then, just this past February, he won -- for the third time -- a Best in Show at the South Miami Rotary Art Festival.

Although he's lived in Wellfleet since 1966 (and summered in Provincetown for a few years before that), Burdick has managed to keep a rather low profile here on Cape Cod. Although he never did much to publicize it, he had a gallery on Route 6 in Wellfleet from the late '60s to the late '80s. Then, last year, his daughter, Kate Burdick Barnholtz, opened the Burdick Art Gallery on Bank Street, primarily to showcase his paintings and works by other members of the family, including his wife, Joanne Burdick, and daughter Margaret Burdick. He continues to paint every day, finding it a faithful source of enrichment. "How can anything else in life compare to it?" he asks. But the question, of course, is only rhetorical.

 

(above:  Charles Burdick, "Mary Cassatt in Her Studio," acrylic on masonite, 12 x 18 inches)

 

  

(above:  Charles Burdick, "The Zebras," acrylic on masonite, 14 x 18 inches)

 

Label text from the exhibition

Chinese Horses
Charles Burdick
Watercolor on paper
 
Russet Horses
Charles Burdick
Watercolor on paper
 
Prancing Horses
Charles Burdick
Watercolor on paper
 
Amity
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on board
 
Leaving the Ark
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on board with oil glaze
 
Missing the Ark
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on board
 
The Zebras
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on masonite
Burdick uses acrylics to paint the white "mats" surrounding many of his pictures.
 
Unicorns at the River
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on masonite
 
Peaceable Kingdom
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on board with oil glaze
Burdick frequently paints the "Peaceable Kingdom" theme -- so closely identified with American folk artist Edward Hicks (1780-1849) and illustrating the lion-shall-lie-down-with-the-lamb theme of Isaiah 11:6. In this particular version, many of the docile-looking animals are actually dozing. Burdick jokes that "The bunny is whispering 'Don't even think of it,' " to the sleeping lion.
 
Mermaids
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on canvas
 
Painting at the Beach
Charles Burdick
Watercolor on paper
"Painting at the Beach" represents no particular artist ­ just a lovely experience common to many plein air painters of the Victorian era.
 
Picasso's Studio
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on masonite
Burdick captures the dynamic energy of Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), that giant among 20th-century artists. Nudes and harlequins were among the Spanish artist's favorite subjects. Already completed is his famous painting "Three Musicians."
 
Rousseau in His Studio
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on masonite
Henri Rousseau (1844-1910), the French primitive painter nicknamed Le Douanier (the customs officer) because of his day job, was much ridiculed during his lifetime, though his style eventually influenced many modernists, including Picasso. Burdick shows Rousseau working on "War" (also known as "Discord on Horseback"), which he painted in 1894 as an indictment against war. War is personified as a wild-eyed woman running across a corpse-strewn battlefield wielding a sword and a torch. Burdick also included the artist's well-known "Sleeping Gypsy" and "The Snakecharmer" in his painting.
 
Matisse in His Studio
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on board
A leading figure in the development of modern art, French artist Henri Matisse (1869-1954) was known for his expressive use of color and line. Several of his works, including his well-known painting "The Goldfish," appear on the wall behind him.
 
Monet Paints the Haystacks
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on masonite
Beginning in the summer of 1890, Monet painted a series of 25 canvases of grain stacks in the fields near his home in Giverny, France. He used the motif to study the effects of light at various times of day, during the passing seasons and in different types of weather. The number falls well short of 25, but Burdick has painted Monet painting his haystacks on more than one occasion.
 
Monet at Gare Saint-Lazare
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on masonite
Claude Monet (1840-1926) is often considered the father of French Impressionism. He was certainly the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of painting outdoors and capturing the effects of light through high-key colors and small brushstrokes.
In this painting, Burdick has him on location at the railway station at Saint-Lazare in Paris, the site of Monet's famous "La Gare Saint-Lazare." He has set up his easel amid the tracks in the smoke-filled terminal, just as Monet must have when he painted the scene in 1877.
 
The Bonnards in the Studio
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on masonite
Burdick has done many works paying tribute to French post-Impressionist Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947). Building areas of intense color from many small brushstrokes, Bonnard painted many sunlit interiors and gardens, often combining the inside and outside in the same scene. His wife, Marthe, often appears in his pictures, as do still lifes of flowers and fruit.
 
Pissarro Painting His Son
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on board
French Impressionist Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) had six children who survived childhood, and they all followed in his footsteps and became painters. Here, Burdick imagines Lucien, the oldest, Lucien, posing for his father. After Lucien went to live in England in 1883, the two corresponded frequently. The father's letters were published in 1943 as "Camille Pissarro: Letters to His Son, Lucien," which is regarded as a fine source of information about late 19th-century art.
 
Seurat Spends a Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on masonite
Measuring nearly 11 feet long, "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" is widely considered to be the most outstanding achievement of French artist Georges Seurat (1859-1891) and the premier example of pointillism. Located in the Seine river, the park was a pastoral getaway for Parisians when Seurat painted it from 1884 to 1886. He visited the island on many occasions and made numerous sketches and preliminary studies. Based on his studies of optical theories, Seurat applied his colors in small, contrasting dots, anticipating that they'd blend to create a single hue in the viewer's eye. He believed the vibrating colors would appear more brilliant that traditional brushstrokes. His approach had a profound effect on the post-Impressionists. The painting is now in the collection the Art Institute of Chicago.
 
Renoir at La Grenouillère
Charles Burdick
Watercolor on paper
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), a leading French Impressionist, had a penchant for pretty women and girls, pleasant landscapes and lively social gatherings. He and Monet often worked outdoors side by side, such as when they both painted La Grenouillère in the summer of 1869, producing some of first truly Impressionist canvases. Located on a small branch of the Seine, La Grenouillère (The Frog Pond) was a popular bathing and boating resort with a floating restaurant. Gangplanks linked a tiny artificial island with the river bank and with two barges moored under trees and roofed with awnings.
 
Berthe Morisot in Her Studio
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on masonite
Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) was the great-niece of the rococo painter Fragonard, a student of Corot's, and a friend (and later the sister-in-law) of Edouard Manet. She was the first woman to join the circle of French Impressionist painters and showed her work in all but one of their groundbreaking exhibitions, held in Paris from 1874 to 1886.
 
Degas in His Studio
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on masonite
Edgar Degas (1834-1917) is usually regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism, though he preferred to be called a realist and never embraced the movement's emphasis on broken brushwork and painting outdoors. The world of ballet inspired more than half of his life's work, including oil and pastel paintings, bronzes, prints and drawings. Here, a young dancer poses for him in the presence of her mother, on hand to ensure respectability. Degas' well-known painting "The Absinthe Drinker" hangs on the wall of his studio.
 
Mary Cassatt in Her Studio
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on masonite
American painter Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) lived much of her adult life in France and exhibited with the Impressionists. She's particularly remembered for her many works showing the tender bond between mother and child. As Burdick has imagined it, her well-known paintings "The Boating Party," "Young Girl at a Window" and "The Bath" are on display in her studio. Burdick notes that the painting at the left wasn't painted by her, but by her dear friend Edgar Degas. She, however, is the subject (and Degas may possibly have presented it to her as a gift). Titled "Mary Cassatt and Her Sister at the Louvre," the painting is now in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
 
The Collector
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on masonite
This 19th-century French art connoisseur -- looking through his magnifying glass at van Gogh's "Café Terrace at Night" -- isn't supposed to be anyone in particular. But he did give Burdick the opportunity to present paintings by various artists. Given the time period and the selection of works, we can assume he's a foresighted person with progressive tastes.
 
Van Gogh and the Mailman
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on masonite
Here, Van Gogh works on one famous painting while -- one might say -- he's sitting in another. The setting is his well-known bedroom at Arles, which Burdick has reproduced quite faithfully. He painted three versions of the rather bare room, enlivening it with areas of bold color. During van Gogh's sojourn in Arles, he became good friends with a postal worker, Joseph Roulin, who stood by him through his quarrel with Gauguin, subsequent mental breakdown and eventual institutionalization in the asylum at Saint-Rémy. Van Gogh painted Roulin seven times -- always with his blue cap -- and also made portraits of other members of his family. Burdick has "decorated" van Gogh's bedroom with several other canvases, including "Sunflowers," which he really did paint at Arles, and "Starry Night," painted just a short time later at Saint-Rémy.
 
Van Gogh and Gauguin
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on masonite
In February 1888, Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) left Paris and went to live in Arles, in sunny southern France, where he produced many of his best-known paintings. At his strong urging, his friend Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) arrived to live with him in October. For a short time, their creativity was mutually stimulated. But their relationship -- and van Gogh's mentally stability -- rapidly deteriorated as they frequently quarreled about issues related to their art. And Gauguin was too critical for the sensitive van Gogh. Tensions erupted in the infamous incident in which van Gogh tried to attack Gauguin with a razor, then cut off part of his own earlobe. In Burdick's re-creation of their association, the bandage indicates van Gogh has already severed his ear. On the wall hang van Gogh's "Starry Night," "Café Terrace at Night" and "Bedroom at Arles" (which is, roughly, the setting for this painting). The Gauguins, including "The White Horse" and "Fatata te Miti," are definitely anachronisms, as the artist didn't go to Tahiti -- where they were painted -- until 1891. That, however, is all but irrelevant in Burdick's charming version of art history.
 
Ralph and Martha Cahoon
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on masonite
Burdick did this painting of Ralph and Martha Cahoon in honor of his exhibition here at the Cahoon Museum. It's based on a photograph of the pair working together in their studio, here in this building. Burdick has imagined a number of their paintings on display on the wall behind them.
 
Alexander, Bucephalus and Apelles
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on masonite
Burdick depicts a fanciful -- though quite possible -- incident in the life of Alexander the Great. He shows the Macedonian king with his artist, Apelles, and horse, Bucephalus.
Apelles became the court painter when Alexander was a young man and later traveled with him as part of his retinue on military campaigns. He was known as a master of graceful line, simplicity of design and charm of expression. His paintings of Alexander wielding a thunderbolt (known only through historical reports) were widely admired.
Bucephalus may well be the most famous stead of ancient times. The Greek historian Plutarch recounted that Alexander tamed the magnificent, but reputedly untamable horse when he was only a boy of 10. Bucephalus later served Alexander in many battles. He was fatally wounded in 326 BC in the Battle of the Hydaspes, in what is now Pakistan, at the age of 28 to 30.
 
Alexander, Bucephalus and Apelles
Charles Burdick
Gouache on paper
 
Medieval Lion
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on canvas with oil glaze
 
Unicorn Hunt
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on canvas with oil glaze
Unicorns have long found their way into Burdick's animal paintings. So he suspects that the "Hunting of the Unicorn" mythology ­ which harks back to medieval times -- launched his fairly recent "medieval series." It was said that the white, horselike creature -- identified by the single horn in the center of its forehead -- could not be captured by force. However, if a virgin were left alone -- in a spot frequented by the unicorn -- it would come to her, lay its head in her lap and fall asleep. Then, through this trickery, it might be captured.
Burdick used an oil glaze to darken his "medieval" paintings, to give them some illusion of dating from that long ago time, before the development of many of the brighter pigments.
 
Tiger Hunt
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on masonite with oil glaze
 
Circus Parade
Charles Burdick
Watercolor on paper
 
Bareback Rider
Charles Burdick
Watercolor on paper
That's French artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), over on the right, painting at the circus. In addition to cabarets, theaters and brothels, he frequented the circus, and circus performers inspired many of his works.
While Burdick initially began painting circus scenes as part of his "Artist at Work" series -- featuring Toulouse-Lautrec on location -- he soon found that the circus offered a wonderful opportunity to paint animals in motion. Now, most of his circus paintings leave out the Frenchman and simply convey a sense of whirling activity and lighthearted fun.
 
Under the Big Top
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on masonite
 
Circus Trumpeter
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on masonite
 
Circus Riders
Charles Burdick
Acrylic on masonite

 

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