Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967), Winter Afternoon, 1936, graphite on paper, 5 1/8 x 7 3/4 inches, The Charles Rand Penney Collection of Work by Charles E. Burchfield, 1994.
It is unwise to destroy a picture thru a whim – the whim may seem wise for 5 or even 10 years – but the time comes when we regret the destruction because now we know how we could use that same picture as a starting point in something better-
I am thinking of two sketches I made of two false-front stores in Negley, Ohio, which I destroyed during a house-cleaning fit some years ago – I was no longer going to put new wine into old bottles! Now I see where I could use them.
Charles E. Burchfield, Journals, January 24, 1936