Watercolorist Charles Ephraim Burchfield was one of America's most original and visionary watercolor artists. Best known for his romantic, often fantastic depictions of nature, Burchfield developed a unique style of watercolor painting that reflected distinctly American subjects and his profound respect for nature and man's relation to reality as received through all the senses.

Burchfield was born on April 9, 1893, in Ashtabula Harbor, Ohio. Five years later, following the death of his father, his family moved to Salem, Ohio, where he graduated from high school as class valedictorian in 1911.

Mr. Burchfield attended the Cleveland School of Art and studied with noted artists of the day including William Sommer, Henry G. Keller, Frank N. Wilcox, and William J. Eastman.