43: ALBERT BIERSTADT (1819-1903) OIL ON PAPER BUTTERFLY

Albert Bierstadt (1819-1903)
(Sept 1 1887)
The oil and ink image on paper signed by the artist lower left and dated 'Sept 1/87 NY.'
Among America's very best known artists famous for monumental panoramas of the American West, Albert Bierstadt is also known for these souvenir-like butterfly images created in the moment and gifted to friends and visitors to his studio.
'Two or three daubs of pigment on the paper, a quick fold, and...A wonderful Brazilian butterfly or moth...' (Gordon Hendricks, Albert Bierstadt: Painter of the American West, 1986, p. 302).
Sheet measures 7.75 x 4.75 inches in a 12.75 x 10.75 inch frame.
Good condition, various evident factors are present that are often found with these works on paper from the late 19th century; the paper tabbed to card stock, discoloration, toning around the edges and elsewhere, stray fountain pen ink, bits of foxing. there are no issues of structural damage or repair.
$10,000 - $15,000