#11 on map. 
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Church Bells Ringing, Rainy Winter Night 1917

Hosted by Hofmeister Realty, 675 E. State Street

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            The structure in Church Bells Ringing was the old Baptist Church, formerly on the southeast corner of State Street and Lincoln Avenue.  The steeple was destroyed in a 1947 fire, but portions of the church building still existed until 2022 when the entire brick building was razed. The site is now planned to be a downtown green space. 
            Church Bells Ringing is presently owned by the Cleveland Museum of Art. It illustrates well the concept of Burchfield's symbolism, which he actually catalogued in a document he called Conventions of Abstract Thought.  In this painting, Burchfield illustrated the fear that he felt as a small boy when the church bells rang not far from his Fourth Street home.  The pair of circular elements in the church steeple includes one of his symbols for “fear”.  In his November 16, 1917, journal entry Burchfield notes the “Parrot-like grotesque of Baptist Church.” And indeed the image resembles the beak of a bird. With his artistic creativity Burchfield imbued this ordinary church structure with extraordinary emotions. 

More at Burchfield Penney Museum site

 

​Postcard of the Baptist Church, about 1920.
​Image from the collection of the Burchfield Homestead Society.