Horse #9
1982
A life-sized horse sculpture constructed from industrial materials including steel, sheet aluminum, wire, and tar, evoking the rawness and organic presence of the animal through its unconventional assemblage. Deborah Butterfield masterfully transforms these rigid, manufactured elements into a form that captures the spirit and physicality of the horse, blurring the boundary between the natural and the man-made. The dark, textured surface created by the tar lends the work a weathered, almost elemental quality, as if the figure has emerged from the earth itself.
- Medium
- steel, sheet aluminum, wire and tar
- Dimensions
- Spotted At
- Auction House · Phillips
Notes
Execution: Executed in 1982, this work is unique.
🔨 Auction Lot
New Now: Modern & Contemporary Art
September 25, 2024
Estimate: $80,000 – $120,000
Lot 25
More by Deborah Butterfield
Spotted works by Deborah Butterfield
Artists in conversation
John Chamberlain
American · b. 1927
Chamberlain similarly transformed raw industrial metal materials including crushed steel and aluminum into expressive sculptural forms, creating works with rough tactile surfaces that oscillate between the mechanical and the organic, mirroring Butterfield's assemblage approach.
Mark di Suvero
American · b. 1933
Di Suvero works extensively with assembled steel beams, wire, and industrial scrap to create large scale sculptural forms with raw weathered surfaces and structural tension, sharing Butterfield's use of fabricated materials to evoke organic physicality and presence.
Nancy Graves
American · b. 1939
Graves built figurative animal sculptures from unconventional assembled materials including metal and natural elements, pursuing a similar dialogue between industrial fabrication and organic animal form, with comparably textured and layered mixed media surfaces.
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