Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967), The Night Wind, 1918; watercolor, gouache, and pencil on paper, 21 1/2 x 21 7/8 inches; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Gift of A. Conger Goodyear, 1960
Charles Burchfield, Journals, January 29, 1949
Sunday, Jan 29, 2023
Colder in the night—alternate feathering snow flurries and sunshine all day long.
In studio most of the day, studying pictures. “The Night of the Equinox” “Song of the Telegraph” and “Return of the Blue Birds”—these all seem like splendid starts, and it seems to me that I must increase their fantasy character still more and reduce or even eliminate any realistic approach. They must be distilled into pure art forms. The blend of realism & conventionalized fantasy is a compromise and they lost power for that reason.
It seems to me more than ever, imperative that I somehow get these fantasies in finished concrete form even tho there is no sale for them. How we will live, I do not know.
Framed the “Night Wind and Stars” (1939-49) preparatory to sending it to N.Y.
Charles E. Burchfield, Journals, January 29, 1949