Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967), Nighthawks at Twilight, 1917-49; watercolor on joined paper, 33 1/2 x 47 inches; Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, Michigan, Gift of the Viola E. Bray Charitable Trust, 1964.3
“Nighthawks” needs no comment I guess, I love to see them frolicking in the vanguard of a storm – I think they must use the swirling eddies of wind as we do sliding places. How I envy them – if there were anything at all to the theory of evolution (which I doubt very much) man would long ago have developed wings. And I love the eeriness of a woods at nightfall.
I wanted wings so often, on our trip. Going through the desert, some odd-shaped mountain-peak in the distance called so strongly for a closer look. I guess the answer would be a helicopter. I am anxious for the time when helicopters will come down in price and can be handled easily by an ordinary driver. I feel sure that time will come, and that I will run one before I die. It’s one of the things I think I simply must do or my sojourn on this earth will not be complete.
Charles E. Burchfield, Letter to Lawrence A. Fleischman, March 17, 1956