Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967), Untitled [Christmas tree seen through a doorway, Salem, Ohio], December 1915; watercolor on paper, 13 3/4 x 10 inches; Burchfield Penney Art Center, Gift of Donald A. and Ann L. Ross, 1992
Two weeks spent in hospital for operation. What at first threatened to be a period of ennui produced by idleness turned out to be most productive – After the third day, I could read and sketch. Later my room was changed to one on the south, where out over the fields & woods, I could watch the play of sunlight in the clouds. Here I sketched, dreamed and read at will. I finished the marvelous “Myths of the Hindus + Buddhists”, and became acquainted with Hugo in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”
There lying in bed I was enjoyed almost complete isolation from the outside world, taking refuge in the books, or seeing the Elysian Fields in the landscape outside –