Martin Johnson Heade

Charles E. Heed (the artist's half-brother)
By descent to the present owner

The canvas is lined and the edges of the original canvas are trimmed. There is pronounced paint separation, especially in the dark pigments. Under UV: there are lines of inpainting corresponding to the separation, primarily in the dark pigments and upper right sky.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Martin Johnson Heade scholar Theodore Stebbins writes of the present work, “Heade made his first trip to the tropics in 1863-64, when he went to Brazil, and he went again in 1866 to Nicaragua, then in 1870 to Columbia and Jamaica. The present work, with its subtle handling of light and atmosphere, was likely painted from nature on one of these trips. Judging from the surface, it may have been painted over another work, suggesting that he was travelling and was short of materials. Considering the size, the careful execution and the signature at lower left, this was certainly a finished work, and it is a rarity in his oeuvre in its subtle depiction of the dense jungle and the humid atmosphere, with the sun just breaking through the clouds at the right. Heade’s depictions of the tropical forest are typically renderings of topography and foliage, rather than light… It is the only work by Heade that I know that might well have served as an aide-memoire or study for the atmospheric skies and jungles in Heade’s later orchid and hummingbird compositions. Its treatment of the dark stormy sky closely resembles the sky in Heade’s Cattlea Orchid and Three Brazilian Hummingbirds, 1871 (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)”