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The glassy surface of this small oil painting complements the scientific precision Heade used to depict the specimens in the foreground. In the scene, two hummingbirds, a male Phaon Comet and a Brazilian Fairy, are shown with a brilliant pink Cattleya orchid. The birds and flower are painted in their natural environment, a wet Brazilian landscape. They are framed by gnarly branches and trees entwined with vines against a stormy sky with a hint of blue at the left and rain on the right. Humidity is apparent in the saturated coloration and the atmospheric quality of light that pervades the composition.
The work of the famous German naturalist-explorer Alexander von Humboldt inspired Heade’s trips to Brazil; Humboldt’s description of tropical light corresponds to the light in Orchid with Two Hummingbirds. “The sun does not merely enlighten, it colors the objects, and wraps them in a thin vapor, which, without changing the transparency of the air, renders its tints more harmonious, softens the effects of the light, and diffuses over nature a placid calm, which is reflected in our souls.” [2]
The vista behind the flower and birds is seen from a distance, creating an ambiguity of scale between foreground and background, which conflicts with the quasi-scientific rendering of the birds and flower. The vines hanging from lush foliage against an ominous gray sky create a dramatic backdrop and suggest Heade’s interest in the transitory effects of nature.
Orchid with Two Hummingbirds provides a glimpse into the debate that raged around Charles Darwin’s work and Heade’s response to it. “Only nine years earlier Darwin had chosen the orchid to demonstrate evolutionary anatomy in The Various Contrivances by Which Orchids are Fertilized by Insects. He astonished the world by describing the orchid not as a static specimen made perfect by God at creation but as part of a family of plants exhibiting ingenious devices that had been modified over time to ensure cross-fertilization.” [3] The hummingbirds, thus, play a critical role for the flower by disseminating its pollen. In addition to its scientific emphasis, the painting is rife with sexual associations, making it a daring subject for Victorian audiences.
Notes:
[1] Heade quoted in Robert George McIntyre, Martin Johnson Heade (New York: Pantheon Press, 1948), 11, and Theodore E. Stebbins, Janet L. Comey, and Karen E. Quinn, The Life and Work of Martin Johnson Heade: A Critical Analysis and Catalogue Raisonne (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000).
[2] von Humboldt quoted in Bayard Taylor, Cyclopaedia of Modern Travel: A Record of Adventure, Exploration and Discovery, for the Past Fifty Years: Comprising Narratives of the Most Distinguished Travelers Since the Beginning of this Century (Cincinnati, OH: Moore, Wilstach, Keys & Co., 1856), 34.
[3] Charles C. Eldredge, Barbara Babcock Millhouse, and Robert G. Workman, American Originals: Selections from Reynolda House, Museum of American Art (New York: Abbeville Press, 1990), 68.
Provenance1940s
New York art market [1]
Mrs. Betty Mont, New York NY [2]
From at least 1969 to 1976
George J. Perutz (born 1949), Dallas TX, received from his aunt, Mrs. Betty Mont. [3]
1976
Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., New York NY. [4]
From 1976
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem NC, purchased from Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., New York NY on July 3, 1976. [5]
Notes:
[1] Stebbins, Theodore E., Jr. The Life and Works of Martin Johnson Heade, (New Haven CT: Yale University Press), 1998.
[2] See note 1. Also Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., Bill of Sale, object file.
[3] See note 2.
[4] See note 2.
[5] Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., Bill of Sale, object file.
Exhibition History1971
The Romantic Vision In America
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas TX (9/22/1971)
Cat. No. 40
Lent by George J. Perutz
1990-1992
American Originals, Selections From Reynolda House Museum Of American Art
The American Federation of Arts
Center for the Fine Arts, Miami FL (9/22/1990-11/18/1990)
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs CA (12/16/1990-2/10/1991)
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York NY (3/6/1991-5/11/1991)
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis TN (6/2/1991-7/28/1991)
Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth TX (8/17/1991-10/20/1991)
Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago IL (11/17/1991-1/12/1992).
The Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK (3/1/1992-4/26/1992)
1999-2000
Martin Heade Johnson
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston MA (9/29/1999-1/17/2000)
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC (2/13/2000-5/7/2000)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles CA (5/28/2000-8/13/2000)
2005
Vanguard Collecting: American Art at Reynolda House
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem NC (4/2005-8/2005)
2017
Samuel F.B. Morse's Gallery of the Louvre and the Art of Invention
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (02/17/2017 - 06/04/2017)
2020-2022
Cross Pollination: Heade, Cole, Church, and Our Contemporary Moment
Cummer Museum of Art (9/2020 - 1/2021)
Reynolda House Museum of Amerian Art (2/2021 - 5/2021)
Thomas Cole National Historic Site (6/2021 - 10/2021)
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (11/2021 - 3/2022)
Published ReferencesStebbins, Theodore E. Jr. Life and Works of Martin Johnson Heade. New Haven CT & London: Yale University Press, 1975.
Millhouse, Barbara B. and Robert Workman. American Originals. New York: Abbeville Press Publishers, 1990: 68-9.
Eldredge, Charles C. “The Paintings at Reynolda House Museum of American Art.”
Antiques. CXLII, no.5, November 1992: 679-699.
Stebbins, Theordore E. Jr., with Janet L. Comey, Karen E. Quinn, and Jim Wright.
Martin Johnson Heade. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in association with Yale University Press, 1999.
Cao, Maggie M. American Art. Smithsonian American Art Museum with Chicago University Press, Fall 2011: 62.
Stuhlman, Jonathan, Anthony Doerr and Mel Chin. Connecting the World: The Panama Canal at 100. Charlotte, NC: The Mint Museum, 2014: 25, 59.
Gaurdiano, Nocholas. Transcendentalist Aesthetics in Emerson, Peirce, and Nineteenth-Century American Landscape Painting. Lexington Books, 2016:
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Reynolda: Her Muses, Her Stories , with contributions by Martha R. Severens and David Park Curry (Winston-Salem, N.C.: Reynolda House Museum of American Art affiliated with Wake Forest University, 2017). pg. 64, 64-66, 146, 147
DepartmentAmerican Art
Orchid with Two Hummingbirds
Artist
Martin Johnson Heade
(1819 - 1904)
Date1871
Mediumoil on prepared panel
DimensionsFrame: 22 3/8 x 26 1/2 in. (56.8 x 67.3 cm)
Canvas: 14 7/8 x 19 in. (37.8 x 48.3 cm)
SignedM.J. Heade
1871
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
CopyrightPublic Domain
Object number1976.2.8
DescriptionIn looking back over his life, American artist Martin Johnson Heade described the effect of his travels to Brazil: “A few years after my first appearance in this breathtaking world [1863], I was attacked by the all-absorbing hummingbird craze, and it has never left me since.” He determined to document the birds in an illustrated publication The Gems of Brazil, but the volume was never realized. Orchid with Two Hummingbirds is one of the two earliest examples of a hummingbird and orchid by the artist. [1]The glassy surface of this small oil painting complements the scientific precision Heade used to depict the specimens in the foreground. In the scene, two hummingbirds, a male Phaon Comet and a Brazilian Fairy, are shown with a brilliant pink Cattleya orchid. The birds and flower are painted in their natural environment, a wet Brazilian landscape. They are framed by gnarly branches and trees entwined with vines against a stormy sky with a hint of blue at the left and rain on the right. Humidity is apparent in the saturated coloration and the atmospheric quality of light that pervades the composition.
The work of the famous German naturalist-explorer Alexander von Humboldt inspired Heade’s trips to Brazil; Humboldt’s description of tropical light corresponds to the light in Orchid with Two Hummingbirds. “The sun does not merely enlighten, it colors the objects, and wraps them in a thin vapor, which, without changing the transparency of the air, renders its tints more harmonious, softens the effects of the light, and diffuses over nature a placid calm, which is reflected in our souls.” [2]
The vista behind the flower and birds is seen from a distance, creating an ambiguity of scale between foreground and background, which conflicts with the quasi-scientific rendering of the birds and flower. The vines hanging from lush foliage against an ominous gray sky create a dramatic backdrop and suggest Heade’s interest in the transitory effects of nature.
Orchid with Two Hummingbirds provides a glimpse into the debate that raged around Charles Darwin’s work and Heade’s response to it. “Only nine years earlier Darwin had chosen the orchid to demonstrate evolutionary anatomy in The Various Contrivances by Which Orchids are Fertilized by Insects. He astonished the world by describing the orchid not as a static specimen made perfect by God at creation but as part of a family of plants exhibiting ingenious devices that had been modified over time to ensure cross-fertilization.” [3] The hummingbirds, thus, play a critical role for the flower by disseminating its pollen. In addition to its scientific emphasis, the painting is rife with sexual associations, making it a daring subject for Victorian audiences.
Notes:
[1] Heade quoted in Robert George McIntyre, Martin Johnson Heade (New York: Pantheon Press, 1948), 11, and Theodore E. Stebbins, Janet L. Comey, and Karen E. Quinn, The Life and Work of Martin Johnson Heade: A Critical Analysis and Catalogue Raisonne (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000).
[2] von Humboldt quoted in Bayard Taylor, Cyclopaedia of Modern Travel: A Record of Adventure, Exploration and Discovery, for the Past Fifty Years: Comprising Narratives of the Most Distinguished Travelers Since the Beginning of this Century (Cincinnati, OH: Moore, Wilstach, Keys & Co., 1856), 34.
[3] Charles C. Eldredge, Barbara Babcock Millhouse, and Robert G. Workman, American Originals: Selections from Reynolda House, Museum of American Art (New York: Abbeville Press, 1990), 68.
Provenance1940s
New York art market [1]
Mrs. Betty Mont, New York NY [2]
From at least 1969 to 1976
George J. Perutz (born 1949), Dallas TX, received from his aunt, Mrs. Betty Mont. [3]
1976
Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., New York NY. [4]
From 1976
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem NC, purchased from Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., New York NY on July 3, 1976. [5]
Notes:
[1] Stebbins, Theodore E., Jr. The Life and Works of Martin Johnson Heade, (New Haven CT: Yale University Press), 1998.
[2] See note 1. Also Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., Bill of Sale, object file.
[3] See note 2.
[4] See note 2.
[5] Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., Bill of Sale, object file.
Exhibition History1971
The Romantic Vision In America
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas TX (9/22/1971)
Cat. No. 40
Lent by George J. Perutz
1990-1992
American Originals, Selections From Reynolda House Museum Of American Art
The American Federation of Arts
Center for the Fine Arts, Miami FL (9/22/1990-11/18/1990)
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs CA (12/16/1990-2/10/1991)
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York NY (3/6/1991-5/11/1991)
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis TN (6/2/1991-7/28/1991)
Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth TX (8/17/1991-10/20/1991)
Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago IL (11/17/1991-1/12/1992).
The Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK (3/1/1992-4/26/1992)
1999-2000
Martin Heade Johnson
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston MA (9/29/1999-1/17/2000)
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC (2/13/2000-5/7/2000)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles CA (5/28/2000-8/13/2000)
2005
Vanguard Collecting: American Art at Reynolda House
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem NC (4/2005-8/2005)
2017
Samuel F.B. Morse's Gallery of the Louvre and the Art of Invention
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (02/17/2017 - 06/04/2017)
2020-2022
Cross Pollination: Heade, Cole, Church, and Our Contemporary Moment
Cummer Museum of Art (9/2020 - 1/2021)
Reynolda House Museum of Amerian Art (2/2021 - 5/2021)
Thomas Cole National Historic Site (6/2021 - 10/2021)
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (11/2021 - 3/2022)
Published ReferencesStebbins, Theodore E. Jr. Life and Works of Martin Johnson Heade. New Haven CT & London: Yale University Press, 1975.
Millhouse, Barbara B. and Robert Workman. American Originals. New York: Abbeville Press Publishers, 1990: 68-9.
Eldredge, Charles C. “The Paintings at Reynolda House Museum of American Art.”
Antiques. CXLII, no.5, November 1992: 679-699.
Stebbins, Theordore E. Jr., with Janet L. Comey, Karen E. Quinn, and Jim Wright.
Martin Johnson Heade. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in association with Yale University Press, 1999.
Cao, Maggie M. American Art. Smithsonian American Art Museum with Chicago University Press, Fall 2011: 62.
Stuhlman, Jonathan, Anthony Doerr and Mel Chin. Connecting the World: The Panama Canal at 100. Charlotte, NC: The Mint Museum, 2014: 25, 59.
Gaurdiano, Nocholas. Transcendentalist Aesthetics in Emerson, Peirce, and Nineteenth-Century American Landscape Painting. Lexington Books, 2016:
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Reynolda: Her Muses, Her Stories , with contributions by Martha R. Severens and David Park Curry (Winston-Salem, N.C.: Reynolda House Museum of American Art affiliated with Wake Forest University, 2017). pg. 64, 64-66, 146, 147
Status
On view