Passion Flowers with Three Hummingbirds
Date: ca. 1875
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).
Published References
Gillham, Will (ed.), Celebrating American: Masterworks from Texas Collections. (Fort Worth, Amon Carter Museum, 2002), 56-57. Color ill. p. 57
Stebbins, Theodore E. The Life and Work of Martin Johnson Heade: A Critical Analysis and Catalogue Raisonne (Singapore: CS Graphics, 2000), 148
Label TextIn 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)
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
