|
DEBORAH BUTTERFIELD
Deborah Butterfield is a renowned American sculptor celebrated for her poignant depictions of horses crafted from natural and reclaimed materials. Her lifelong passion for horses began in childhood and became the central theme of her career. Initially, Butterfield created life-sized forms using mud, clay, and sticks. By the late 1970s, she transitioned to working with scrap metal and found steel, and later began casting her wooden assemblages in bronze, preserving the texture and form of the original materials.
Butterfield earned her BA (1972) and MFA (1973) from UC Davis, studying under influential artists such as Robert Arneson and Manuel Neri. Her work is included in major public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She has exhibited extensively across the United States and internationally. Most notably, Deborah Butterfield: P.S. These Are Not Horses, a retrospective at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis (2023–2024), celebrated her more than 50-year career and enduring artistic legacy. In 2022, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Sculpture Center, recognizing her significant contributions to contemporary sculpture. Over the course of her career, Butterfield has also been honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship and multiple National Endowment for the Arts grants. Butterfield’s sculptures offer more than realistic portrayals—they serve as quiet, powerful reflections of human emotion and experience. Each work conveys a sense of calm, strength, and contemplation that captures the spirit of the animal and a deeper feeling of presence and memory. Her intuitive use of reclaimed materials expands the emotional and expressive range of contemporary sculpture. |
Deborah Butterfield - Untitled (#5348), 2023, cast bronze with patina, 79 x 78 x 40 in.
|
Deborah Butterfield - Untitled (#5403), 2024, cast bronze with patina, 83 x 96 x 47 in.
|
Deborah Butterfield - Untitled (#5402), 2024, cast bronze with patina, 79 x 78 x 40 in.
|
Deborah Butterfield - Untitled (#5443), 2024, cast bronze with patina, 41½ x 46 x 15 in.
|
Deborah Butterfield - Untitled (#5456), 2024, cast bronze with patina, 28½ x 32½ x 8½ in.
|
Deborah Butterfield - Untitled (#5452), 2024, cast bronze with patina, 26 x 31 x 10 in.
|
|
Deborah Butterfield - Hapai, 2021, cast bronze with patina, 31 x 38 x 10½ in.
|
Deborah Butterfield - Kalima, 2021, cast bronze with patina, 32 x 31 x 15 in.
|
Past Exhibitions
DEBORAH BUTTERFIELD
New Sculptures May 30 - August 12, 2025 Vertical Divider
|
DEBORAH BUTTERFIELD
New Sculptures August 13 - October 16, 2021 Vertical Divider
|
Past Exhibitions Continued:
May 17 - August 9, 2019: Deborah Butterfield - New Work May 13 - August 20, 2016: Deborah Butterfield - New Sculpture May 16 - August 21, 2014: Deborah Butterfield May 14 - August 18, 2010: Deborah Butterfield - New Sculpture October 19 - November 28, 2007: Deborah Butterfield - New Sculpture April 15 - May 28, 2005: Deborah Butterfield - New Sculpture September 13 - November 9, 2002: Deborah Butterfield - New Sculpture October 15 - November 27, 1999: Deborah Butterfield - Sculpture March 22 - April 25, 1996: Deborah Butterfield - New Bronze Sculptures November 20 - January 21, 1993: Deborah Butterfield - New Work December 7 - January 5, 1990: Deborah Butterfield October 20 - November 25, 1989: Deborah Butterfield May 7 - June 13, 1983: Deborah Butterfield May 11 - June 30, 1979: Deborah Butterfield - New Sculpture September 17 - October 19, 1977: Deborah Butterfield July 23 - September 10, 1976: Deborah Butterfield |