Detail of a butterfly in Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884).

The painting has been interpreted as revealing the essence of modern existence and its double-edged sword of social spectacle and isolation. A butterfly hovering in the middle left of the painting reinforces this reading. A symbol of fragility, during the Industrial Revolution the butterfly was used in art as motif for the environmental and social consequences of progress. Indeed, this scene of bourgeoise leisure had only recently been enabled by the factory life existing just beyond the painting’s frame. The painting, which has been in the Art Institute of Chicago since the 1920s, continues to fascinate modern audiences, making pop-culture cameos in The Simpsons and a famously pivotal scene in the classic enjoy-your-life film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Fascinating analysis of the butterfly in the painting, highlighting its symbolic significance in the context of modern existence and industrial progress. The connection to social consequences is thought-provoking.