Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)

An elegy. The original study for this painting was made on the spot…. Later it was enlarged considerably…but somehow it seemed to lack either mood or mystery…. [Then] I allowed my imagination to take over….I changed the time from that of a gray daylight to late twilight. But most important, the huge elm that dominates the background and provides the mood was also added at this time. (Burchfield, Whitney catalog, 1956)