Four Butterflies

1646

Wenceslaus Hollar

Associated Names
Wenceslaus Hollar

Artist, Bohemian, 1607 - 1677

The image displays four butterflies with different patterns and positions on a plain gray backdrop. The butterflies vary in wing positions and are distinguished by their unique patterns. The color palette consists of various shades of gray. Each butterfly is positioned differently on the backdrop, with one in profile and three with wings open. The artwork is titled and signed in the bottom right corner.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    plate: 8.1 × 11.8 cm (3 3/16 × 4 5/8 in.)
    sheet: 8.2 × 11.9 cm (3 1/4 × 4 11/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.4948

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    New Hollstein, no. 922, State i/iii

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Count Giuseppe Archinto [1783-1861], Milan (Lugt 52); Arkady Alferoff [1811-1872], Bonn; (Lugt 1727); Rudolf Philip Goldschmidt [c.1840-1914], Berlin (Lugt 2926); (C.G. Boerner, Leipzig, May 7-9, 1928, lot 637); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], 1928; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1982

  • Pennington, Richard. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Etched Work of Wenceslaus Hollar 1607-1677. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982, no. 2173, state i/iii.

1996

  • The New Hollstein German Engravings, Etchings and Woodcuts, 1400-1700. (Wenceslaus Hollar, Simon Turner, author). Rotterdam: Sound & Vision Interactive, 1996-, no. 922, state i/iii.

Inscriptions

in plate, at bottom center: WHollar fecit / ex Collectione / Arundeliana, / 1646; verso, lower left, in graphite, by a later hand: P.2173; verso, lower right, in graphite, by a later hand: 637

Wikidata ID

Q65026352

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