Albert Bierstadt (American, 1830-1902) Butterfly, 1890 Oil and pencil on paper laid on board 4-1/2 x 7 inches (11.4 x 17.8 cm) (sheet) Signed and dated lower right: Albert Bierstadt / Dec 16/90 PROVENANCE: Lt. Col. and Mrs. Frederick Stephenson, Washington D.C., circa 1920s; By descent to the present owner, circa 1990. Butterfly, 1890, is included in the Albert Bierstadt database being compiled by Melissa Webster Speidel in preparation for a catalogue raisonné of the artist's paintings. The present work is accompanied by her letter dated April 7, 2025. In this letter, Ms. Speidel writes: "Although Bierstadt is best known for his magnificent landscapes of the American West, his artistic sensibilities and artistic spirit were also manifested in a series of small paintings of butterflies he created between approximately 1885 to 1900. He created them for friends and guests at social gatherings as mementos, souvenirs or party favors. They are typically oil on paper and measure 4 or 5 inches by 6 or 7 inches. He painted half of the insect in colorful paints using a palette knife and folded the paper to make a mirror image on the other half of the paper. He added antennae in pencil and signed and often dated the artworks. Occasionally they are inscribed to the hostess or a guest and sometimes he drew an additional insect. In his biography on the artist, Gordon Hendricks quotes a journalist who attended one of these social gatherings and wrote about watching the artist create a butterfly painting and his artistic process. "The subject painting is dated December 16, 1890. This is a rare instance where there is information on the event when Bierstadt made the painting. He was in Trinidad, Colorado, returning from a trip to the West Coast and attended a tea party at John and Sarah Bloom's mansion. Several of the butterfly paintings from this occasion still exist. "They are wonderful impromptu paintings. They don't mimic specific species but rather are from Bierstadt's imagination." HID12401132022 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice