Butterfly, December 16, 1890

Provenance

Lt. Col. and Mrs. Frederick Stephenson, Washington D.C., circa 1920s

Private collection, by descent from above, circa 1990.

Sale, Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas, May 16, 2025, lot 68005

Literature

Melissa Webster Speidel Opinion Letter, April 7, 2025

This painting is included in the Albert Bierstadt Catalogue Raisonné Project by Melissa Webster Speidel.

Related Works

Butterfly, 1887, oil on paper, 4 7/8 x 7 3/4 inches, signed and dated: For Mrs. Mott Albert Bierstadt / Mar 28/87; The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, Winter Park, Florida

Butterfly, 1892, oil on paper, 5 x 8 inches, signed and dated lower right: Albert Bierstadt / Nov 23/92; The Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, Pennsylvania

Note

Although Bierstadt is primarily celebrated for his monumental landscapes, his artistic sensibility also found expression in a series of butterfly paintings produced between circa 1885 and 1890. These works, often created as personal mementos for friends and guests, reflect a more intimate facet of his practice.