Charles E. Burchfield, Journals, September 9 - 13, 1941

Carnegie Jury in New York –

Leave a day ahead of time so as to be able to go over my pictures at the gallery –

Institute had made reservations at the Biltmore, conveniently adjacent to the station.

John O’Connor arrives at desk at exactly same moment as I. Spend day at gallery – pick out 12 to be returned – I removed them from their frames & wrapped them in paper & took them to the hotel –

A sultry day –

John & I have lunch together – Balken in the gallery in P.M. he looks overcome with the heat –

Night – dinner alone – on the Biltmore roof – a pleasant breeze – (Crenshaw melon – Smoked turkey ham, with an aspic cold salad – ice-tea & sherbet – everything cold and I enjoyed it.)

Thurs, - 1^st session at Budworth’s – 2300 pictures to go thru and the quality lower than we expected – (at the end of the session only 140 accepted conditionally to be sent on to Pittsburg for final revision.)

The other jurors –

(Written in margin: Opinions of other jurors – perhaps should be anonymous!)

[H--] – a charming lovable personality, hard to define what his great charm was – it was not that he strove to please, or was ingratiating – one simply could not help loving him without reservations – attired in old clothes that looked ready to be for the rag-bag, yet there was no affectation about it.

[S--] – a big, breezy, husky chap in his early thirties emanating health & vigor – He too charmed – charmed everyone men & women; but in his case, it could be analyzed. He strove to be agreeable, and then his youth & healthy vigor drew one irresistibly.

[M--] – a nervous dyspeptic type, with little charm. On the contrary he repelled me by his pontifical attitude towards art, and what constituted a good picture. He could never forget he was a teacher, and his conversation consisted of lectures on his theories of art. He was always harping on form – to the exclusion of all the real qualities that go to make up a picture. When it came at last to awarding prizes, he asserted that he thought none of the major prizes should be given to anything but figure work – yet – I felt  he had a fine mind, and one could learn from him, if only it were possible to get beyond his shell of bigotry.

Lunch at Taft Hotel, where our conversation was periodically drawn out by the fortissimo jazz of Guy Lombardo’s orchestra – It is impossible to discover any logic in having a jazz-band in a restaurant.

Evening – Dinner at ? – the four jurors,O’Connor & Balken. Then to see “Panama Hattie” – After the theatre, high-balls at the Hotel New York bar – stories etc. Walk over to Hotel –

Friday – (Sept 10) –

Finish job at Budworth’s in morning – An episode has to show Miller’s “easy” ethics. He begged us to put in a picture by Walter Pach, which we had rejected, because he was Walter Pach, the well-known writer on art, and carried his pleas to the point of extreme embarrassment – we refused to yield however.

Sheets and I to gallery, as he wanted to see some of my work –

[Then] to lunch at Century Club – some critics (Jewell, Cortissoz, Boswell) some well-known artists (Kroll, Moore, and some others) Museum directors Taylor (Metropolitan) & ? (Brooklyn Museum) – and Conger Goodyear. I sat between Boswell & Cortissoz – twice, I called Boswell, Johnson!

After lunch [S--] & I to Museum of Modern Art, where its coldness, and preciousness drove us out.

Night – Dinner at Rainbow Room, on the roof of Rockefeller Center – Ladies included, but the only three whom I can identify by name are Mrs. Saint-Gardens & Mrs. Miller, and Mrs. Force. A pleasant affair – For entertainment – a “mental telepathist” a Latin singer, and Spanish Dancers – the latter excellent.

Our [dessert], an ice-cream concoction, served from a large swan made of ice.

Afterwards, I had to rush to the hotel, so as to make my train, while the rest of the party, went to some stage-designer’s apartment.

Charles E. Burchfield, September 9-13, 1941