The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

Orchid Blossoms

1873
(American, 1819–1904)
Framed: 47.6 x 40 x 7 cm (18 3/4 x 15 3/4 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 38.1 x 30.6 cm (15 x 12 1/16 in.)
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Ten years after painting Orchid Blossoms, artist Martin Johnson Heade married at the age of 64.

Description

At the time he created this work, Martin Johnson Heade had made three trips to Central and South America. As an outgrowth of these experiences, he made a large number of paintings of birds and flowers, especially orchids, in a tropical setting.
  • Hinman B. Hurlbut, Cleveland, OH, by 1878; his bequest to CMA, 1915.
  • Northern Illinois University. Near-Looking, A Close-Focus Look at a Basic Thread of American Art. [Catalogue of the Exhibition] Oct. 27-Nov. 22, 1974. DeKalb, Ill: Northern Illinois University, 1974. no. 10, p. 29, ill. p. 30
    Johnson-Humrickhouse Memorial Museum, Coshocton, Ohio. American Paintings, 1825-1915, from the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Inaugural Exhibition at the New Home of the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum, July 7 - Nov. 1, 1979. 1979. cat. no. 13
    Maciejunes, Nannette V., and Norma J. Roberts. A Nation's Legacy: 150 Years of American Art from Ohio Collections. [Columbus, Ohio]: Columbus Museum of Art, 1992. cat. no 10, color pl. p. 35
    Harrison, Stephen, Emmanuel Ducamp, Jeannine J Falino. Artistic Luxury: Fabergé Tiffany Lalique. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008. Reproduced: P. 266, fig. 104
    McIntyre, Robert G. Martin Johnson Heade, 1819-1904. New York, NY: Pantheon Press, 1948. Mentioned: p. 34, 61
    Stebbins, Theodore E. The Life and Works of Martin Johnson Heade. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1975. Reproduced: cat. 193
    Foshay, Ella Milbank. "Nineteenth Century American Flower Painting and the Botanical Sciences." Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1979. Reproduced: p. 299, fig. 9-8; Mentioned: p. 469
    Turner, Evan H. Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 14
    Stebbins, Theodore E., Janet L. Comey, and Karen E. Quinn. The Life and Work of Martin Johnson Heade: A Critical Analysis and Catalogue Raisonné. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000. Reproduced: p. 257, cat. 221; p. 331, fig. 441
    Chong, Alan. European & American Painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art: A Summary Catalogue. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993. Reproduced: p. 103
    Harrison, Stephen, Emmanuel Ducamp, and Jeannine J. Falino. Artistic Luxury: Fabergé Tiffany Lalique. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Yale University Press, 2008. Reproduced: p. 266, fig. 104
    De Havenon, Georgia Riley, Christina De León, Alicia Lubowski-Jahn, Gabriela Rangel, and Christopher Winks. Unity of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt and the Americas. New York, NY: Americas Society, New York; Bielefeld, Germany: Kerber Verlag, 2014. Reproduced: p. 139
  • The Unity of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt and the Americas. The Americas Society, New York, NY (organizer) (April 29-July 26, 2014).
    Artistic Luxury: Fabergé Tiffany Lalique . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 19, 2008-January 18, 2009).
    A Nation's Legacy, 150 Years of American Art from Ohio Collections. Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH (organizer) (January 19-March 15, 1992); the Isetan Museum, Tokyo (April 9-May 5, 1992); the Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art, Yamaguchi, Japan (May 12- June 21, 1992); the Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Ar, Fukushima, Japan, (June 27-August 2, 1992); the Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Takamatsu, Japan (August 7-September 6, 1992); Daimaru Museum Umeda, Osaka, Japan (September 23-October 5, 1992).
    Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).
    American Paintings 1825 - 1915 from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum, Coshocton, OH (organizer) (July 7-November 1, 1979).
    American Paintings, 1825-1915, from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum, Coshocton, OH (July 7-November 1, 1979).
    Near-Looking: A Close-Focus Look at a Basic Thread of American Art. Northern Illinois University Art Gallery, DeKalb, IL (organizer) (October 27-November 22, 1974).
    Near-Looking. Northern Illinois University Art Gallery, Dekalb, IL (October 27-November 22, 1974).
    Horticulture Motifs in Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 9-April 24, 1955).
    Exhibition of the Month: Flowers in Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 6-June 5, 1952).
  • {{cite web|title=Orchid Blossoms|url=false|author=Martin Johnson Heade|year=1873|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1915.461