Items Similar to "Books and Butterflies 9" Oil painting, still life, surrealist, signed
framed
Video Loading
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 20
Steven Levin"Books and Butterflies 9" Oil painting, still life, surrealist, signed
framed2025
2025
$45,800
£34,934.74
€39,867.39
CA$64,406.79
A$70,687.99
CHF 37,147.58
MX$841,172.87
NOK 474,856.46
SEK 433,924.84
DKK 297,848.98
About the Item
The ninth "Books and Butterflies" painting from Steven Levin, and the ONLY remaining available from the series, was delivered to our gallery in August 2025. A meticulously rendered still life painting of a tower of books, stacked atop one another. Lots of art-history books, some titles: "American Realists" "Corot in Italy" "Sargent Abroad" as well as American History, as seen in the book spine "Letters of a Nation". An orange hazy sky is the setting for this still life, which is quite surreal. There is no landscape, just sky. We are situated above the horizon; the books placed on a ledge made of fine marble. Violets and ivy vines wrap around the tower of books, inviting butterflies.
Signed by the artist, on recto, lower right corner "Levin".
Framed in a traditional 4-inch wood frame painted black, with gold inner-trim.
Framed dimensions: 52 x 40 inches.
Steven J. Levin - (b. 1964) is classical realist oil painter living and working in Stillwater, Minnesota. He grew up painting alongside his father—a commercial artist—and knew he wanted to be a painter early on. After high school he enrolled in the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and then the Atelier LeSueur in Excelsior, Minnesota (a descendant of the 19th century Boston School ateliers)—where the training was more in line with what Levin was drawn to as an emerging artist. Levin remained at the atelier as a student for five years and then a teacher for seven more years. He completed his studies with an extended stay in England to join the copyist program at London’s National Gallery.
Although he enjoyed working in The Boston School tradition, Levin started to draw inspiration from artists with richer pallets such as Vermeer and Edward Hopper. Levin’s reputation as a colorist is strong and getting stronger with each passing year. His compositions range from surrealistic still lifes to multifigure scenes to landscapes—all done with precision and careful consideration of color, light, tone and composition. His “visual pun” paintings have delighted collectors and gallerists for years. This includes his “Plumage” series (which plays with the formal similarities of hats and bird’s nests), his “Books and Butterflies” series, and museum series (depicting paintings within paintings).
Levin has exhibited widely and taken part in significant group and solo exhibitions in New York, London, San Francisco, Beijing, and Barcelona. He has been featured on the cover of American Artist Magazine and has been the recipient of numerous awards and prizes in national competitions including the American Society of Portrait Artists, the Allied Artists of America, the Portrait Institute, American Artist's Magazine, the Artist’s Magazine, the Oil Painters of America and the American Artists Professional League..
Artist Statement
Essentially, my paintings are about beauty. Whether it be in my still life work, where I begin with a consideration of just the abstract elements of form and color, and then try to build interest with the careful arrangement of objects, or in the interior scenes which are usually about light, atmosphere, and mood, beauty is always the first subject.
In some of my work I enjoy a kind of visual pun, as in the still life series called Plumage, where the juxtaposition of hats and bird’s nests are so similar in shape and with each having the element of feathers. The paintings of my museum series are undertaken with an implied wink at the depiction of paintings within paintings.
Though I see painting as first and foremost a craft, it isn’t only that. Painting is about projecting that craft through a personality, memory and emotion in the attempt to capture an intangible thing which speaks in a language unavailable to any other mode of expression.
- Creator:Steven Levin (1964, American)
- Creation Year:2025
- Dimensions:Height: 44 in (111.76 cm)Width: 32 in (81.28 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Sag Harbor, NY
- Reference Number:Seller: LEV-0073741stDibs: LU389316744662
About the Seller
5.0
Platinum Seller
Premium sellers with a 4.7+ rating and 24-hour response times
Established in 1997
1stDibs seller since 2016
200 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: 5 hours
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Shipping from: Sag Harbor, NY
- Return Policy
More From This Seller
View All“Old Books” oil painting, traditional still life, literature with red ribbon
By Sarah Lamb
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
An oil painting by Sarah Lamb.
Painting dimensions: 18 x 27 inches
Framed dimensions: 26 x 35 inches
Framed in a 4-inch gold traditional frame.
Signed "SKLamb 2013" on lower left...
Category
2010s American Realist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Lilacs and Book" - contemporary realist painting, purple flora and literature
By Steven J. Levin
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
American realist painter Steven Levin continues his "Books and Butterflies" series with this still-life. Butterflies flit around cut lilacs and an open book. The wings of the butterf...
Category
2010s American Realist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Hat and Bird
s Nests" oil painting surrealist still life eggs, feathers, silk
By Steven J. Levin
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
"Hat and Bird's Nests" is part of Levin's "plumage" series, where he contrasts hats to birds, their nests, eggs, and feathers. Here, a hat sits centered between two nests, inside of ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Bouquet and Book" oil painting, impressionist still life of flowers and book
By Kelly Carmody
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
An oil painting by Contemporary American painter Kelly Carmody. A bouquet of flowers sprout from a blue striped ceramic jug. A thick book rests along the check-print tabletop. Situte...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
"Studio Corner" Realist oil painting, corner of art studio with paintings
By Joe Altwer
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
"Studio Corner" is a post modern oil on panel painting. It depicts the corner an art studio. There are a variety of paintings, sculptures, and vases that can be seen.
Frame Dimensi...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Interior Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
"Wildflower" contemporary oil painting, still life, interior
By Kelly Carmody
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
An impressionist still life from contemporary American Realist painter Kelly Carmody. A wildflower is placed in a white vase, atop a low coffee-table. Branches reach up and outward, decorated with budding blossoms.
Painted in the artist's studio in Waltham, MA.
Kelly Carmody has exhibited at venues including the Portrait Society of America and the Art Students League. Most recently, she was selected for the 2015 BP Portrait Award Show at the National Portrait Gallery in London and the 2016 Outwin Boochever Award at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. In addition, the historic Guild of Boston Artists...
Category
2010s Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Linen, Oil
You May Also Like
Still Life with Book, Oil Painting
By Nikolay Rizhankov
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
A warm glow from a flickering candle illuminates the scene, casting soft light across every object. An antique clock nestled within a sculpture evokes a sense o...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Still Life with Palette and Books - Oil on Canvas - 1969
Located in Roma, IT
Still life with palette and books is an artwork realized by an unknown artist in 1969.
Oil on canvas.
Handisgned and dated in the lower right margin.
47 x 66,5 cm ; 58,5 x 78 cm ...
Category
1960s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Still life with books, 120x80cm, oil on canvas
Located in Yerevan, AM
Still life with books, 120x80cm, oil on canvas
Category
2010s Contemporary More Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$1,725 Sale Price
25% Off
Still life with books, 120x80cm, oil on canvas
Located in Yerevan, AM
Still life with books, 120x80cm, oil on canvas
Category
2010s Contemporary More Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$1,725 Sale Price
25% Off
Book Collection Exactitude by Kuno Vollet - Hyperrealist, Contemporary Painting
By Kuno Vollet
Located in DE
Artist: Kuno Vollet
Hyperrealistic painting of a series of books
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
"Tall Stack" Contemporary Surrealist Still Life Painting of Books
By Thomas Broadbent
Located in New York, NY
This watercolor painting by New York artist Thomas Broadbent depicts a tall stack of books with an open book on the top mimicking architectural constructions.
Broadbent has shown ex...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Still-life Drawings and Water...
Materials
Archival Paper, Watercolor
