Artwork
Young Woman with a Butterfly
Young Woman with a Butterfly is an oil painting. It dates from 1710 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
Young Woman with a Butterfly is executed in oil paint on canvas, a standard support for formal portraiture of the early eighteenth century.
Young Woman with a Butterfly is executed in oil paint on canvas, a standard support for formal portraiture of the early eighteenth century. The canvas measures 137.3 cm in height by 104.6 cm in width, giving the composition a vertical, half- or three-quarter-length orientation suited to a single seated or standing sitter. Classified as a portrait, the work belongs to the tradition of American eighteenth-century painting and relies on the handling qualities of oil, layered glazes and blended transitions, to model the figure and render the delicate butterfly held as an attribute.
No specific condition report or attribution to an individual painter is provided in the available sources.
History & Provenance
The painting is dated to circa 1710 and executed in oil on canvas by an unidentified American artist of the eighteenth century, portraying a young woman holding a butterfly. Its provenance begins with an early record from New York, where it was in the possession of Louis Lyons; Lyons sold the work in 1953 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, who later bequeathed it to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in 1980. The canvas has remained in the museum's collection since that bequest. No documentary evidence of a contemporary commission appears in the sources.
Context
Young Woman with a Butterfly, painted circa 1710 by an unidentified American 18th-century artist, exemplifies early colonial portraiture through its modest scale (137.3 cm × 104.6 cm) and restrained composition. The oil on canvas depicts a young woman holding a butterfly, a motif that scholars have linked to contemporary natural-history interests. The work entered the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., by bequest from Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch in 1980, having previously been owned by the New York dealer Louis Lyons. Its inclusion in the museum's collection underscores its recognized importance within the trajectory of American portrait painting.
Overview
This oil on canvas painting, titled Young Woman with a Butterfly, presents a serene portrait of a seated figure. The artwork captures a woman in a white gown, positioned against a rich red drapery. Her gentle interaction with a butterfly held in her hand, alongside a sprig of leaves, conveys an atmosphere of quiet contemplation and refined grace. The composition emphasizes elegance through its balanced arrangement and subtle details.
Subject & Meaning
The central figure, a young woman, is depicted in a flowing white dress, her hair styled in soft waves, adorned with a simple necklace. She holds a delicate butterfly in her right hand, while her left cradles a sprig of leaves on her lap. These elements, particularly the butterfly, often symbolize themes of transformation, fragility, or the fleeting nature of life, contributing to the painting's introspective and elegant mood.
Artist & collection
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