Mark Grotjahn’s series of skillfully rendered butterfly drawings have, over the past two decades, become an icon of 20th century art. The present lot,
Created with colored pencil on paper, this work belongs to Mark Grotjahn's celebrated series of butterfly drawings, which have solidified their place as icons of contemporary art over the past two decades. With masterful draftsmanship, Grotjahn constructs his signature radiating lines that converge and expand symmetrically, evoking the delicate yet dynamic form of butterfly wings. The richly layered colored pencil work demonstrates the artist's remarkable technical precision and his ability to transform a geometric framework into an image of striking visual intensity.
- Medium
- colored pencil on paper
- Spotted At
- Auction House · Phillips
🔨 Auction Lot
New Now Evening Sale
February 29, 2016
More by Mark Grotjahn
Untitled (Tuscan Red and Pink Rose Butterfly 45.90)
2015
"The ‘Face Paintings’ allow me to express myself in a way that the ‘Butterflies’ don’t. I have an idea as to what sort of face is going to happen when I do a ‘Face Painting,’ but I don’t exactly know what color it will take, or how many eyes it’s going to have, whereas the ‘Butterflies’ are fairly planned out. They’re still intuitive, but I generally know where they are going. It’s a different kind of freedom, a different kind of expressionism. It’s personal without being overtly personal."
Untitled (Black and Brown Butterfly 647a & 647b)
2006
Spotted works by Mark Grotjahn
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