White Butterfly (aka: La Papillon Blanc)

Roi George Partridge

This early, rare etching by Roi Partridge is pencil signed, "Roy Partridge" and was done before he changed his name to "Roi". In the lower margin, verso, in his handwriting is the pencil inscription: "Roy Partridge, 117 Terry Ave., Seattle."

The etching was done after Partirdge returned from France and was beginning to communicate with photographer Imogen Cunningham, who he soon married. Cunningham's early photographic inspiration was in the work of Pre-Raphaelite artist Rossetti and in William Morris's poetry.

This dreamlike Pre-Raphaelite imagery was Partridge's short exploration of the modernist figure, a departure from his portraits and landscapes, to which he returned after creating three interesting and unusual etchings;"White Butterfly," "Ephemera" and "Dharyamana" all from 1912.

An impression of "White Butterfly" was included in the 42 etchings Partiridge exhibited in the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition. It is listed in the catalog on page 215, number 692.