Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967), Village in the Swamps, 1930; transparent watercolor with chalk or crayon on heavy watercolor paper mounted on cardboard, 23 7/16 x 30 7/16 inches; Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Museum of Art, Utica, New York, Edward W. Root Bequest, 57.108
Charles E. Burchfield, Journals, October 18, 1920
Tuesday, Oct 18, 2016
In these days we have reliable weather reports a week in advance; formerly “weather prophets” could tell a day or so in advance from the appearance of the sky. Now we are told a cold wave is coming in a week with storm & freezing weather. There is something sinister about it. The weather is calm, lazy & misty; not a sign of rain or wind, and yet we know that a storm is far away constantly approaching. It gives to this dead calm a sinister quality it would not otherwise have.
At dusk I took a short bicycle ride. On all sides there are bonfires – strange lurid patches with dark figures in front of them.
Charles E. Burchfield, October 18, 1920