About this work
*Open Wings* (also known as *Papillon II*) is a hand-coloured original etching that places a female nude at the centre of the composition, framed by large, outstretched butterfly wings.
The figure is coy — she shows her back and hides her face beneath her arm, as though still deciding whether to surrender to the magnificent wings spread behind her. The palette pivots everything on those wings: the butterfly motif appeared in various colour variants, though collectors broadly agree the muted blue tones are the finest. Against the cool wash of those wings, the pale warmth of bare skin creates the composition's central tension — a living body dissolving into something purely mythic. The plate measures 7¾ × 10¼ inches, making it an intimate object, one that rewards close attention far more than a wall of bolder, larger works.
By 1936, Icart was deliberately reaching back to Art Nouveau motifs, and the *Butterfly Women* series of that year epitomised this nod to the past.
The boudoir art movement was winding down, and Icart was expanding his style under the direct influence of his oil painting and the Impressionist currents of the time.
The series contained only four etchings, each unusually small, with experts placing the edition size at 150 or fewer — far tighter than the open editions of his triumphant 1920s years. *Open Wings* sits as the second work in that quartet, and its emotional register — neither fully revealed nor entirely withdrawn — gives it a psychological complexity that sets it apart from the more straightforward sensuality of its companions. It marks a hinge moment: a master printmaker, at the peak of his technical powers, consciously turning back toward an older dream.
For the wall, this print asks for a room with restraint — a study lined with natural materials, a bedroom with ivory walls and low light, anywhere that quiet beauty is valued over spectacle. The *Butterfly Women* series is avidly sought by collectors, and it is easy to see why: the image holds that rare quality of feeling simultaneously antique and alive. It speaks to anyone drawn to the charged space where the human figure meets the decorative — where flesh and ornament become indistinguishable. Hang it where morning light can catch the blue of those wings.
