“Mandarin Duck,” Michael Budden (b.1957), c.1970–80 hand-pulled lithograph 26×22 in., signed & numbered 8/300, detailed wildlife print.

“Mandarin Duck,” Michael Budden (b.1957), c.1970–80 hand-pulled lithograph 26×22 in., signed & numbered 8/300, detailed wildlife print.

“Mandarin Duck” by renowned New Jersey artist Michael Budden is a signed, limited-edition wildlife lithograph (8/300) that captures a brilliantly plumed mandarin duck amid reeds, driftwood, and soft atmospheric light. Created c.1970–80, this hand-pulled print showcases Budden’s award-winning mastery of composition, mood, and illumination and is in excellent, never-framed vintage condition.

Artwork Description

“Mandarin Duck” exemplifies Michael Budden’s early wildlife work, where meticulous natural observation meets luminous, almost theatrical light. The composition centers on a male mandarin duck, its ornate plumage carefully rendered in layered browns, golds, greens, and flashes of blue and white. The bird stands alert on a knotted tangle of driftwood and dried vegetation, partially framed by tall reeds and flowering aquatic plants.

The background is a veiled expanse of green and teal, softly modulated to suggest misty sky or water and to push the richly detailed foreground into sharp relief. Budden’s training in composition and value is evident: diagonals of reeds and driftwood lead the eye across the print, while the duck’s bright eye and patterned feathers become the focal point. The delicate white blossoms and seed heads lend a lyrical, almost botanical quality.

Executed as a hand-drawn, hand-pulled lithograph, the piece uses fine linework and subtle tonal gradations to mimic the depth of a painting while retaining the graphic clarity of printmaking. The edition number 8/300 is inscribed in graphite at lower left, with the title “Mandarin Duck” at center and Budden’s signature at lower right. The print likely dates from the late 1970s to early 1980s, when Budden was concentrating on wildlife imagery and developing the distinctive treatment of light that would become his hallmark.

The work can be read as both a celebration of the species’ exotic beauty and a quiet meditation on solitude in nature. The duck appears poised between movement and stillness, surrounded by life yet alone, a theme that recurs throughout Budden’s wildlife and later landscape paintings.

Complete & Detailed Artist Biography – Michael Budden (b.1957)

Michael Budden was born in 1957 and has lived and worked for most of his life in his native New Jersey. He attended Mercer County Community College and the College of New Jersey, graduating in 1980 with degrees in art. Initially planning to teach, he found limited opportunities in education and instead devoted himself fully to painting, a decision that launched a long and decorated career.

Wildlife Painting & National Recognition
From the early 1980s through the mid-1990s, Budden focused on wildlife subjects—ducks, loons, deer, and other North American fauna—often painted on location in national parks and Western mountain landscapes. During this period he won more than one hundred awards in juried exhibitions across the United States, gaining attention from major art publishers, magazines, and museums for his distinctive use of composition, mood, and lighting.

His wildlife works were reproduced as limited-edition prints, collector plates, cards, and calendars, and are held in the permanent collections of the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum (WI), Hiram Blauvelt Wildlife Art Museum (NJ), and the Bennington Center for the Arts (VT), among others. These pieces, including images like “Mandarin Duck,” helped cement his reputation as a leading contemporary wildlife artist.

Plein Air Painting & Shift to Landscapes and Cityscapes
In 1989 Budden was introduced to plein air painting while working in Montana. Painting directly from nature transformed his approach, deepening his sensitivity to atmospheric effects and the fleeting qualities of light—an obsession that became the driving force of his later work.

Throughout the 1990s he expanded into landscapes and seascapes, winning further awards. Around 2006 he shifted again, this time toward urban scenes, especially New York City. His paintings of the Flatiron Building, Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn Bridge, and other landmarks have earned top honors at the Salmagundi Club in New York, including multiple Arthur T. Hill and Alden Bryan Memorial Awards for traditional landscape, as well as a major purchase award for a Flatiron painting that now hangs in the club’s permanent collection.

Honors, Memberships & Professional Standing
Budden has been invited to design the White House Easter Egg representing New Jersey and has been profiled in The Artist’s Magazine, Wildlife Art News, Midwest Art, and American Art Review. He is a long-standing and decorated member of the Salmagundi Club (NYC) and a Signature/Fellow member of organizations including the American Artists Professional League, Allied Artists of America, Audubon Artists, and the American Society of Marine Artists.

He earned the distinction “Fellow Maxima Cum Laude” from the American Artists Professional League—an honor held by only a small number of artists worldwide—and was inducted into the Bordentown Regional High School Alumni Hall of Fame. His career continues to be defined by technical mastery, atmospheric nuance, and a deep emotional connection to nature and place.

Style & Creative Process
Across wildlife, landscapes, and cityscapes, Budden’s defining concern is light: the way it reveals structure, suggests atmosphere, and shapes emotional tone. He often begins with direct observation or plein air studies, then develops larger studio works that preserve the immediacy of outdoor experience. Works like “Mandarin Duck” show his early commitment to detail and natural truth, combined with mood-driven lighting effects that now characterize his acclaimed cityscapes.

Michael Budden (b.1957), Mandarin Duck, c.1970–80, hand-pulled color lithograph on paper, 26×22 in., pencil-signed lower right, numbered 8/300. Excellent, never-framed vintage condition. Provenance: Mitch Morse Gallery, NYC; Artfind Gallery, Washington, DC.

Certificate of Value & Authentication

Artist: Michael Budden (American, b.1957)
Title: Mandarin Duck
Date: c.1970–1980
Medium: Hand-drawn, hand-pulled color lithograph on paper
Dimensions: 26 × 22 inches (sheet)
Edition: 8/300
Signature: Hand-signed by the artist in graphite at lower right; edition number at lower left; title at center.
Condition: Unmatted, never framed or displayed; image area in very good, frameable vintage condition.
Provenance:
– Mitch Morse Gallery, New York
– Artfind Gallery, Washington, DC (current owner)

This certificate affirms that the artwork described above is an authentic limited-edition lithograph created, signed, and numbered by Michael Budden.

Provenance Chain (Collector-Formatted)

Mitch Morse Gallery, New York, NY (acquired in NYC and Europe)
→ Private Gallery Holdings
→ Artfind Gallery, Washington, DC (current owner)