Surrounded: Sampling Burchfield’s Wallpaper
The Arkell Museum at Canajoharie is presenting the exhibition Surrounded: Sampling Burchfield’s Wallpaper from June 26, 2015 – September 20, 2015. Charles Burchifeld is well known today for his fantastic watercolor landscapes, but few people know that from November 1921 to August 1929, he worked at the M. H. Birge & Sons Company, eventually becoming one of their best wallpaper designers. His designs were so highly regarded that they printed his name in the selvage. He based many of his early designs on watercolors he had produced in Salem, Ohio. Later designs were either company determined variations on traditional themes, or imaginative designs based on his special view of nature. This exhibition from the Burchfield Penney Art Center collection includes color variations of wallpapers produced with rollers, original painted designs for wallpapers and coordinating fabrics known as cretonnes. The exhibition also features panels from block-printed scenic wallpaper, Country Life and the Hunt (c. 1922-1924) that had been removed from its original installation in a home in New England, donated by Gail and John Greenberger in 1999, and restored by paper conservator Patricia D. Hamm, with assistance of Eileen Saracino, James D. Hamm, and Tracy Dulniak. The Arkell Museum is open Tuesday – Friday from 10 am – 5 pm and on Saturday and Sunday from Noon to 5 pm. Permanent exhibitions at the Arkell Museum include paintings by Gilbert Stuart, Winslow Homer, George Inness, American Impressionists, and The Eight. Mohawk Valley history and the marketing of Beech-Nut are also featured in museum exhibitions. The Arkell Museum, 2 Erie Blvd, Canajoharie, NY, is located half way between Albany and Utica — just three blocks from exit 29 on the New York State Thruway (I-90). For more information call 518-673-2314 or visit www.arkellmuseum.org
