The Butterfly Catcher

QUINN CLAFLIN MARSHALL

Year2009

MediumAcrylic on Board

Dimensions 122 × 81 cm

Price$4800 USD

A long train consisting of multiple red colored cars loaded with agricultural goods traverses the breadth of the horizon. On the left side a dark storm broods above a mountain. Gradually the sky transitions towards the right to become a dynamic sunrise cresting over a calm body of water. The two main characters are in the center, with a woman twirling in space while daydreaming, seemingly having no perception of the muscular male poised behind her. He wears an animal like hood and carries a long pole with a "catching" hoop at the top. There are a pair of figures on each side that frame the central couple. The Conductor stands in front of the train on the left and holds aloft a small framed butterfly as a white cat in the foreground matches his gaze. Deep in the midground on the right two women kneel between the rows of rich dark soil of a future garden that extend into the foreground. One woman is in the act of digging with her hands and the other sits adjacent holding the white cat.