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Butterfield horse gifted to permanent collection at Figge

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By Times staff | Friday, December 14, 2007 1:10 AM CST | () comments

The Deborah Butterfield sculpture “Half Moon” is now on view as part of the permanent collection at the Figge Art Museum in downtown Davenport.

“For many years, we have been working toward the acquisition of a Deborah Butterfield sculpture,” said Michelle Robinson, the curator of collections at the Figge, 225 W. 2nd St. “I was hoping that the Butterfield exhibition would spur interest in the community and it did!”

An anonymous group of donors provided funds for the purchase of “Half Moon,” a bronze standing about 7 feet high that is on display in the Orientation Gallery on the first floor of the museum. The sculpture will be on view there until February, when it will be moved elsewhere to make way for a glass installation.

“Deborah Butterfield,” an exhibition of 16 cast bronze, found metal and mixed-media sculptures, was on view from March 3 to May 27 at the Figge.

Horses have been the single, sustained focus of Butterfield’s work for more than 20 years. She has been sculpting for more than 30 years. “Half Moon” is one of Butterfield’s bronze sculptures as opposed to her “found metal” works. The bronzes begin with a full-sized wooden model, which is shipped to her foundry in Walla Walla, Wash. There, it is meticulously photographed, disassembled and cast piece by piece in bronze and reassembled with welding. Butterfield then applies a variety of painting techniques to achieve the look of the original wood. “Half Moon” was given its name because of the curvature of the neck.

Butterfield’s honors and awards are numerous, including a National Endowment for the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship in 1977, a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship in 1980, a National Endowment for the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship, a Citation for Excellence Award from the University of California-Davis and Cal Aggie Alumni Association in 1992 and an American Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award in 1993.