DEBORAH BUTTERFIELD | Madrone (Cody)

Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2000

Robert Gordon, Deborah Butterfield, New York 2003, p. 147, illustrated in color

This work is in excellent condition overall. Any signs of wear and age to the bronze components are inherent to the artist's intention and chosen medium, as the cast bronze was created in the design of found weathered wood.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

QUOTE: "It is the gap between resemblance and transformation, and between likeness and otherness, that we must begin to grapple with. And only in our grappling do we realize how much her work has to tell us. For Butterfield's horses are no longer recognizable forms... made of bent metal or pieces of driftwood, they are both the inside and the outside of the house, both the armature and the skin..." Jon Yau, "Inside/Outside," in Robert Gordon, Deborah Butterfield, New York 2003, p. 25

NARRATIVE TEXT: 

After years of love and appreciation for Deborah Butterfield’s work, Marsha Williams invited the artist to their newly renovated ranch in Napa to request a special commission for the property. Shortly after arriving and discussing the project with Marsha, Deborah began collecting scattered fallen branches from oak, madrone, and manzanita trees around the grounds of the property. The branches were then hauled back to the artist’s studio in Montana where she assembled three beautiful horses, each made from a specific wood for the each of the three Williams’ children, Zak, Zelda and Cody. Pictured here is the horse created for Cody, made from the fine-textured, dense madrone wood.  After modeling the horse in the wood, she then cast the work in bronze.

For Butterfield, the fascination of horses started at a young age and has come to define her artistic career; “I could barely walk when I began dragging my father to see horses. Now, the horse has become my rectangle. Instead of just painting on a regular canvas, I use the horse. For me it has become more than a subject matter.” Through her masterful craftsmanship, Butterfield breathes the essence of life in a lifeless object. In the untouched spaces left between the cast branches, kinetic energy defines musculature and movement. As Jon Yau proposes, “It is the gap between resemblance and transformation, and between likeness and otherness, that we must begin to grapple with. And only in our grappling do we realize how much her work has to tell us. For Butterfield’s horses are no longer recognizable forms...made of bent metal or pieces of driftwood, they are both the inside and the outside of the house, both the armature and the skin…” (Jon Yau, “Inside/Outside.” in Robert Gordon, Deborah Butterfield, New York 2003, p. 25.