The colour photographs of the sculptures, which represent the visual core of this book, have been provided by the artist and were taken in gallery installations, her studios or her foundry. An essay by the noted author and horsewoman Jane Smiley captures the depth of Butterfield's character and passion. John Yau, poet and art critic, adds a formal analysis of the artist's work, especially discussing her personal and deep-rooted philosophical beliefs. A selection of poems by the late Vicki Hearne, poet, animal trainer and close friend of the artist, evokes Butterfield's knowledge of her subjects and the relationship of those subjects to the artist's creations.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
With extraordinary focus over 25 years, Butterfield has created sculptures with a single subject: horses. And with an introduction by Jane Smiley (A Thousand Acres), an essay by poet and art critic John Yau, poems by the late Vicki Hearne and pages of beautifully reproduced work, Butterfield comes off as a thoroughbred in the world of art. As Smiley says, "I have never met a horse lover who did not gasp at the truth of Butterfield's horses," and this catalogue, timed to coincide with a traveling exhibition of Butterfield's work, is sure to delight anyone with a passion for horses and art. Whether her works are found in steel or iron, wood, barbed wire or cast bronze, her ability to animate a pile of seemingly lifeless materials with the shape and spirit of a horse can be truly breathtaking. Particularly intriguing are the pieces made with giant metal letters-the shape of the letters transforming magically into shoulders, hocks and arched neck. Even nonbelievers will be impressed with Butterfield's technical mastery over her mediums, particularly her intricate variation on the "lost wax" method of casting bronze. Strangely, one 1979 piece cited often in the text, in which Butterfield cleverly integrated the barbed wire found on her Montana ranch, is not pictured here, but anyone with an interest in the possibilities of material, or in what constitutes form, will be pleased by this selection.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Horses have been Butterfield's totem animal and endlessly evocative subject for several decades, and she has portrayed these regal creatures with the unlikeliest of materials--mud; twigs; and, most often, junk metal--as well as exquisitely cast bronze. Each of Butterfield's horses is a distinct individual, yet each sculpture embodies the very essence of horse. Linear and gestural, her sculptures are nearly anatomical in their expressive tracing of bones, sinew, blood vessels, and nerve ganglia, and they are poetic, too, in their distillation and potent emotional valence. Also a superb horsewoman, Montana-based Butterfield couldn't ask for more simpatico documentation of her vital work than Gordon's superb monograph, the first on this major American artist. The colorplates are perfect, and the commentary brilliant. In her stirring introduction, Pulitzer Prize winner and horsewoman Jane Smiley revels in the "absolute horsiness" of Butterfield's creations. Poet John Yau writes about what a "loaded subject" horses are, and both he and Smiley consider the paradox inherent in Butterfield's use of industrial detritus to create images of living beings. Butterfield's evocative horses are studies in reclamation and reintegration, and the plexus between nature and humankind. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sculptures of horses that almost breathe,
By
This review is from: Deborah Butterfield (Hardcover)
Not for Deborah Butterfield the bronzes of Frederick Remington, who saw horses as active partners of active men. Her horses are....themselves. Individuals. With distinct personalities. And great souls. If you love animals, these will steal your affection as surely as if they were great cats or dogs.What's surprising about Butterfield's horses is their construction. She began by making them of sticks, wire and mud. (And by building them big --- they're taller than most horses.) From the beginning, she could use these unpromising materials to deliver the essence of a horse. What she could not deliver was permanence. So she learned to use disposable materials as the mold of the sculpture, and then to cast it in bronze that retained the texture of wood, wire and mud. Careful painting completes the work. Butterfield breaks fresh ground with every horse. And why not? She thinks of her sculptures as self-portraits --- as explorations of her animal nature. Maybe that's why so many of her sculptures seem to be female. And why they connect on such a deeply emotional level. This beautiful book contains 75 full-color plates. It is the ideal gift for horse lovers --- and that includes girls who are mad for horses and are ready to dream about them in a new way. But even considered just as a coffee-table book, 'Deborah Butterfield' passes every test, starting with the shallowest --- your guests will gravitate to it, flip through it, and say, "Where did you get this?"
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magnificent,
This review is from: Deborah Butterfield (Hardcover)
My heart swells with pride and admiration. What a wonderful tribute to an artist that completely captures the spirit and nature of the majesic equine beast she loves. The line and content of her work is perfect. How marvelous that her work is across the nation, how poetic and musical is the word that describes her work. A marvelous book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great (Small) Book on an Amazing Sculptor,
By
This review is from: Deborah Butterfield (Hardcover)
At 5x7 inches and 280 pages this lovingly curated and carefully edited book packs a wallop: Hundreds of photos show not only Deborah Butterfield's beautiful sculptures, but also illuminate her process through many fascinating glimpses behind the scenes. Add to that an incisive interview with New Yorker writer Lawrence Weschler, and you've got yourself a rich offering. If you're a Butterfield fan, or an artist eager to learn from another, this book is for you.
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