Artwork of the Week: Butterfly Wings

Bird in Flight, $39 via xpltx904 on Ebay

made with butterfly wings from Malawi Africa, framed 9 x 11"

Butterfly wing art, a popular motif in jewelry from the 1920s-1950s in England, can also be found in a lot of more recently made South American tourist items depicting tropical scenery and kaleidoscopic patterns on trays and other travel souvenirs. I prefer the bird and animal collages created from these gossamer fragments and mounted under glass. They remind me a lot of the work of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, known for his painted assemblages of fruits and vegetables that formed highly detailed portraits of people's faces. But in this case, I really love the representation of flying things made from other flying things. 

Some of the winged images I've included here are vintage and some are from today, but all of them, in my opinion, are pretty amazing. 

Two Parrots on a Branch, $24.95 via rubisco on Etsy

made with butterfly wings from Nigeria, framed 10.25 x 8"

Gazelle Antelope Goat Animal, $39.95 via udderlygoodstuff on Ebay

from Cameroon West Africa, framed 8.5 x 11"

The Parrot, $29 via xpltx904 on Ebay

made with eight different species of butterfly wing, framed 6 x 8"

Set of Two Parrots, $178.55 via michlilypoppy2010 on Ebay

framed 42 x 26 cm each

Birds, $45.99 via illkniterate on Etsy

vintage 1980s, framed 22.5 x 17.5"

- Cathleen