Study for "July" 1941

Editor: So, here we have Charles Burchfield's "Study for 'July'" – a pencil sketch from 1941 currently residing at the Harvard Art Museums. It strikes me as both stark and serene; what do you see in this piece? Curator: Ah, Burchfield. Even in a preliminary sketch, his unique voice shines through. I see a landscape imbued with a kind of mystical silence. The trees act as guardians, framing a world both familiar and slightly… other. Notice the deliberate use of hatching; it's not just about rendering light, but about suggesting a vibrating energy in the air. Do you feel it? Editor: I do. It's like the air itself is shimmering. Thanks, that's a new way of thinking for me. Curator: Art is never just what you see, but also what you feel.