Charles E. Burchfield, Journals, September 22-24, 1962

Sept. 22-24 – Saturday to Monday – / John and Winnie’s Visit –

A thoroughly enjoyable and also “profitable” get-to-gether – Besides the pleasure of showing my pictures to someone who loves and understands them, it also bolstered my self-confidence, which is so often lacking; for example in radical innovations such as the “Moth and Thunderclap,” which I get a thrill from every time I look at it, but which has made me wonder “Is this going [too] far into the abstract world?” John seemed “bowled over” by it in fact it probably was his favorite of the year’s work. When I mentioned my concern that it might [seem] like a capitulation to the abstract mode; he argued that it was nothing of the sort, but seemed derived directly from nature. So it turned out again and again.

The sessions in the studio lasted until today noon (24th) – 

We picked out about 16 medium to large ones, Seven 1917’s — Four large drawings; some smaller drawings and a couple small water-colors made several years ago –

One of his enthusiastic selections pleased me especially — this was the enlarged version of the 1918 “Black Houses” (a tracing made of a projected “reconstructed” version (which included the original 1918 water-color) worked up last winter as a water color –). When it came to the question of what date to put on it, he suggested no date at all.

Excerpt from Charles E. Burchfield, Journals, September 22-24, 1962