Skip to main content
Label Text Deborah Butterfield’s inspiration is the horse and two of her trademark sculptures are featured in the Pappajohn Sculpture Park. Butterfield’s horse sculptures have unique personalities and many are based upon real animals. Juno depicts a bashful creature, shown through the introspective, lowered neck position. Perhaps the most striking aspect of Butterfield’s sculptures is their ability to fool the eye with the materials from which they are made. The horses are created through a meticulous process that takes nearly three months to complete. The artist begins by selecting a handful of substantial branches that are then individually cast and reassembled to form the basic shape for each horse. Butterfield then attaches real sticks to the metal armature until she achieves the gesture and demeanor she wishes to portray. The sculpture is then meticulously photographed and disassembled so the individual wooden elements can be cast in bronze. Finally, the metal branches are reattached to the original armature and a patina is applied to the bronze that enhances the look and texture of wood.
Published References"John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park", Lea Rosson DeLong, ed., Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa, 1923, pp. 42, 46, detail p. 47
DimensionsOverall: 76 × 68 × 88 in., 2500 lb. (193 × 172.7 × 223.5 cm, 1134 kg.)
Accession Number 2015.7
Classificationssculpture
CopyrightARS
Provenance(Zolla/Lieberman); John and Mary Pappajohn [purchased from previous, 1989]; Des Moines Art Center [gift from previous, 2015]

Images (1)

Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines

Audio (1)

Juno
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Deborah Butterfield
2009
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Deborah Butterfield
1986
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Judith Shea
1990
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Tony Cragg
1989
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Joel Shapiro
1985
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Martin Puryear
1990
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Ugo Rondinone
2005
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Ugo Rondinone
2006
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Bryan Hunt
1982
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Rita McBride
1992