Second Daughter

Artist Deborah Butterfield (American, born 1949)

Date1989

DimensionsH: 111 in. (281.9 cm); W: 89 in. (226.1cm); Depth: 27 in. (68.6 cm); Weight: 2000 lb. (907.2 kg)

MediumBronze (Walla Walla Foundry).

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LineGift of Georgia and David K. Welles

Object number

2003.51

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Sculpture Garden

Label TextThe horse has been a favorite theme for artists since antiquity, frequently in the form of an aggressive stallion proudly carrying a soldier. Second Daughter is different. This mare relaxes alone, removed from any human presence. Deborah Butterfield has devoted her entire artistic career to the subject of the horse, creating life-sized sculptures of the animals out of various materials. Here she used found twigs and branches, which she then cast in bronze. However, she sought to keep the appearance of the original wood through her use of a patina that imitates the shifting tones of the branches. Butterfield owns a ranch in Bozeman, Montana, where she lives with her family and works among the animals she considers her friends. The artist regards her sculpture as a means of communicating with and about another species, one with an intelligence and spirit all its own.Published ReferencesVallongo, Sally, "Opening the door: a conversation with Georgia and David Welles," Sculpture, vol. 22, no. 8, Oct. 2003, repr. (col.) p.52.

Gordon, Robert, Deborah Butterfield, New York, Abrams, 2003, repr. (col.) p. 117.