| 1893 | April 9: Born Charles Ephraim in Ashtabula Harbor, Ohio, |
| 1898 | September: Father died. Moved with his family to Salem, Ohio. |
| 1911 | Graduated from high school as class valedictorian. Worked at the Mullins Company, filing automobile parts until he contracted typhoid fever. After recuperating, he returned to the Mullins Company to work in the cost department. |
| 1916 | May: Graduated from the Cleveland School of Art. October-late November: Awarded scholarship at the National Academy of Design in New York City, but left after one day in life class. Exhibition of watercolors at Sunwise Turn Bookshop of Mary Mowbray-Clarke in New York and in Cleveland School of Art. Returned to Salem and job at W. H. Mullins Company. Continued to paint during lunch breaks. Mowbray-Clarke remains his dealer until 1922. |
| 1917 | Later he called this period his “Golden Year” for his inventiveness, stylistic experimentation, and prolific output. |
| 1918 | July: inducted into U. S. Army at Camp Jackson, South Carolina; honorably discharged January 1919 with the rank of sergeant. |
| 1921 | November: Obtained position as assistant designer at M. H. Birge & Sons, a quality wallpaper company at 390 Niagara Street in Buffalo, New York and moved to the city. |
| 1922 | May 20: married Bertha Kenreich in Greenford, Ohio. They lived briefly at 170 Mariner Street, later at 459 Franklin Street, Buffalo. |
| 1923 | May 26: Daughter Mary Alice born. |
| 1924 | June 28: Daughter Martha Elizabeth born. |
| 1925 | April: Moved to Gardenville (West Seneca), New York. July 5: Daughter Sarah Ruth (named Rebecca Anne for one day) |
| 1926 | December 31: Daughter Catherine Esther born. |
| 1929 | February: Frank K. M. Rehn Galleries in New York became his dealer. June 1: Son Charles Arthur born. August: Resigned as head of design department of M. H. Birge & Sons to paint full-time. |
| 1930 | April: Charles Burchfield: Early watercolors 1916-1918, Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York; exhibition launches a career with major national recognition. |
| 1933 | November-February: Early Watercolors of Charles Burchfield, Phillips Memorial Gallery, Washington, D.C. June 13: Sister Frances died. June 23: Mother died. |
| 1936 | Commissioned by Fortune magazine to paint the railroad yards at Altoona and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and in 1937, to paint sulphur and coal mining operations in Texas and West Virginia. |
| 1938 | March-April: Water Colors and Oils by Charles Burchfield, Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. May-July: Included in Trois Siècles d’Art aux États-Unis, Musée du Jeu de Paume, Paris, France. |
| 1939 | November: Included in Art in Our Time, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York Serves on regional committee to select art for and participates in American Art Today at the New York World’s Fair. |
| 1940 | Exhibition of Water Colors by Charles Burchfield, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. |
| 1941 | April-May: Paintings by Charles Burchfield, Cleveland School of Art, Cleveland, Ohio. |
| 1943 | Completes The Coming of Spring, his first “reconstruction” or composite painting. |
| 1944 | April-May: Charles Burchfield: A Retrospective Exhibition of Water Colors and Oils 1916-1943, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York (28 works circulated by the American Federation of Arts, 1945). Receives the Chancellor’s Medal from the University of Buffalo. |
| 1946 | April-May: Included in Pioneers of Modern Art in America, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York. June-July: Participates in American Painting from the 18th Century to the Present Day, Tate Gallery, London, England. |
| 1949 | Teaches courses periodically at the Art Institute of Buffalo; Ohio University, Athens; University of 1953 Buffalo; University of Minnesota, Duluth; and Buffalo Fine Arts Academy. |
| 1952 | December-January: Participates in American Water Colors, Drawings and Prints 1952—National Competition Exhibition, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York. |
| 1953 | November-December: The Drawings of Charles E. Burchfield, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio. |
| 1954 | Elected N.A. (made full member) of the National Academy of Design. |
| 1955 | Series of health problems began. |
| 1956 | January-February: Charles Burchfield, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, continues on six-venue national tour through 1957. April-May: Edward Wales Root, 1884-1956: An American Collector, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York, celebrates major bequest including numerous Burchfield works. |
| 1958 | Elected to American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, New York. |
| 1959 | Spring: Began cortisone treatments which results in increased artistic output. Included in Contemporary American Watercolors and Drawings, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, toured to eighteen venues nationally; Twenty-five Years of American Painting, United States Information Agency, toured internationally; Ten Modern Masters of Art, American Federation of Arts, New York, New York, toured to twelve venues nationally. |
| 1960 | Awarded Gold Medal of American Academy of Arts and Letters. |
| 1961 | July-September: Paintings, Water Colors, and Drawings by Charles Burchfield, Ogunquit Museum of Art, Ogunquit, Maine. |
| 1962 | May-June: Paintings by Charles Burchfield, Edward W. Root Center, Hamilton College, Clinton, New York. |
| 1963 | April-May: Charles Burchfield: Recent Paintings, Upton Hall Gallery, State University College at Buffalo and Charles Burchfield: Early Watercolors, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York Became art consultant for State University College at Buffalo. Suffered heart attack |
| 1964 | December-January: Paintings by Charles Burchfield, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. |
| 1965 | November-January: Charles Burchfield: His Golden Year—A Retrospective Exhibition of Watercolors, Oils and Graphics, The University of Arizona Art Gallery, Tucson, Arizona. |
| 1966 | December 9: The Charles Burchfield Center, a museum dedicated to the artist, was inaugurated at the State University College at Buffalo. |
| 1967 | January 10: Charles E. Burchfield died of a heart attack. |
