Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967), October in the Woods, 1938–63; Watercolor, gouache, chalk, and charcoal on joined papers, mounted on cardboard, 45 5/8 x 57 3/4 inches; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Isermann, 1997
Charles E. Burchfield, Journals, Vol. 51, October 5, 1949
Saturday, Oct 5, 2019
At 9:00 from Canada came an hour’s broadcast of Goethe’s “Egmont” (in honor of the 200 anniversary of the writer’s birth) with the incidental music of Beethoven. Never before this have I understood the sudden transition & triumphant ending to the Egmont Overture, but after hearing Egmont’s impassioned speech as he was about to be executed, & his appeal to his countrymen never to let liberty perish from the earth, then I knew, and the brilliant ending was completely logical. It sent a chill down my spine.
— Charles E. Burchfield, October 5, 1949