Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)

Stimulated by a late May “thunder shower with snow” that defies the season, Burchfield painted a blinding white light with an irregular yellow halo that doubles as a sunburst and clap of thunder. Pelting rain and heavy snowflakes driven by a brisk breeze mix with the artist’s observations that frame the activity. His bold white gouache conventions for rain streaks and snow intensify motifs derived from Hiroshige, the 19^th-century Japanese artist he greatly admired. The assault on spring by a wintry clash manifests as “vivid yellow, jagged yellow edges, [and] hazy olive green opaque shadow” in trees to the east, and the “sky misty like dissolving snow; rattle of leaves.” — Nancy Weekly