Image courtesy of the Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection

Rachel with Butterflies

Date1999

Maker John Currin American, born 1962

Label Text"In this painting of his wife, artist Rachel Feinstein, John Currin shows his affinity for Renaissance and mannerist painting that distorted or elongated the female figure. Currin embraces the tradition of figurative painting, putting a modern twist on precedents like Dürer, Botticelli, and Cranach. While many of his earlier female nudes were highly eroticized, this work is more idealized, perhaps because of the artist's intimate relationship with the subject. Rachel poses as a figure reminiscent of Eve before the fall, or perhaps as the embodiment of Spring." Tara Reddy, "First Person Singular/Dis-Figured," May 31, 2001, through January 1, 2002

Object number2020.15.7

Provenance[Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, 1999]

Photo CreditImage courtesy of the Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, First Person Singular, May 31, 2001 - March 17, 2002. Seattle, Washington, Pivot Art + Culture, Figure in Process: de Kooning to Kapoor, 1955–2015, Dec. 1, 2015 - Feb. 28, 2016.Published ReferencesIshikawa, Chiyo, ed. "A Community of Collectors: 75th Anniversary Gifts to the Seattle Art Museum." Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 2007, p. 67, illus.

Credit LineGift of the Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum

Dimensions68 x 38 in. (172.7 x 96.5 cm)

MediumOil on canvas