Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)

B & I to the new Mercury Theatre to see “Moonlight Sonata” a vehicle for the piano-playing of Paderewski. His playing was so fine that it seemed incredible he was 75 years old. As I watched & listened to him, I felt as I did when I heard Schumann-Heink some years ago in vaudeville – this was the last time I would hear a great artist, and it should be done with special reverence. In addition – the new sound equipment reproduced the music perfectly; to any lay ear, it seemed as good as actuality – ; Earlier in the day, a special delivery from Louise warning me that Courvoisier intended to stop today, stopped a projected trip to the country below Olean. When we came out from the theatre and called up home, M.A said he had called several times & left a number (I had waited until 4:00 to hear from him before we gave it up & went to the Theatre) I called him & he made arrangements to come out at 9:15.; I enjoyed his visit a lot. He brought along some of the original Snow-White drawings, (for which he has the exclusive world market). These are not great works of art in the sense that an easel picture is – their value depends on their being in motion on a screen – but they were very interesting, and remarkable for their finish. They were painted on celluloid.; It was a pleasure to show pictures to him, because he knows & likes pictures (how few such there are) and when he did like one he waxed genuinely enthusiastic, and when he didn’t, he was cool, or said so outright. In addition to the later things I showed him a group of the 1917, with which he was delighted. He picked art from he wanted to borrow and announced his intention of getting in touch with Rehn about it