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San Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by the Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation.

Passion Flowers with Three Hummingbirds

San Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by the Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation.
San Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by the Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation.
Contact us at copyright@samuseum.org for rights and reproduction of this image.

Passion Flowers with Three Hummingbirds

Artist: (American, 1819 - 1904)
Date: ca. 1875
Place made:United States, North and Central America
Dimensions:
17 1/4 x 22 1/8 in. (43.8 x 56.2 cm)
Credit Line: San Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by the Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation
Object number: 82.77
Signed: Signed lower left: M.J.H.
Provenance: Acquired by Mrs. Adelaide Riedl of Miami, Florida and Chicago, Illinois; subsequently to her son, Edmund Riedl of Rahway, New Jersey (Ref. letter from Hirschl & Adler Galleries dated 13 June 1983).
Label Text
In 1863, Martin Johnson Heade made the first of three trips to Central and South America. The impact of his time in the rain forest—then largely unknown to United States viewers—resonated for the rest of his career. Heade became fascinated with hummingbirds, which he depicted feeding from exotic flowers in misty settings. This work is unique among Heade’s fifty-some scenes in the series. It is not only one of the largest, but also the only one to feature three birds.

(William Keyse Rudolph, 2014)
On view


The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.