Shimmering Butterfly IV

A work of quiet spectacle, Shimmering Butterfly IV by John Richard arrests the eye with its polished surface and the suspended tension of its winged form — twenty-one inches tall and twenty-five wide, yet possessing the weightless presence of something caught mid-flight. The use of paper, handled with evident mastery, achieves an almost paradoxical richness, its finish lending the piece a luminous depth that reads differently across changing light. It belongs on a wall that deserves a considered focal point — an antechamber, a library, a room that rewards looking.