Butterflies All Blue

This drawing is the preliminary design for an illustration in The International Studio magazine, which published John Davidson's poem "Butterflies" in its Christmas supplement for 1913 called "Seven Happy Days." Though the simplicity of the illustrations compare to publications aimed at children, the underlying theme of the text is more mature. The different colors of butterflies that appear to the young girl in the poem are symbols of the physical and emotional stages of love - white for innocence, blue for desire, gold for happiness, and black for sorrow. In King's design, the girl reaches out for the blue butterflies that surround her figure from head to toe, visual metaphors for the all-consuming nature of desire. The artist was a member of the Glasgow School, which produced such well-known designers as Charles Rennie MacIntosh.