NOS ROBARON ÁFRICA | Christa Zaat

Christa Zaat



Wilhelm Friedrich Kuhnert (German painter) 1865 - 1926 
Spähende Löwen(Lions at Watch), 1913
oil on canvas 
116.2 x 217.8 cm. (45.75 x 85.25 in.)
signed Wilh. Kuhnert (lower right); signed and inscribed Wilhelm Kuhnert/ Berlin/ Spähende Löwen on the reverse
private collection

Catalogue Note Sotheby's
In the late nineteenth century, any young artist who showed an interest in painting animal subjects was encouraged to visit one of the many zoos which were fast becoming popular across Europe. The zoos of Dresden and Berlin were by far the most well-known, and had provided “models” for many important German painters. However, the resulting works, while capturing the exotic appeal of lions, tigers, leopards, and other wild-life, were in reality often based on aged or sickly animals that had been rejected from traveling fairs or circuses. Dissatisfied with this teaching method, Wilhelm Kuhnert chose to follow the example of Germany’s celebrated animal painter Richard Friese, who advocated the study of wild animals in their native habitats. One of the first European artists to travel to East Africa in 1891, Kuhnert later published the three volume Animal Life of the Earth (1901), based on his sketches of the wildlife and terrain of the region. The demand for his impressive depictions of African wildlife led Kuhnert to return to the German and English colonial territories of East and South Africa on safari in 1905 and 1911-12. During this period, the artist refined his working process in order to create powerful works such as Spähende Löwen (Lions at Watch).

In the present work Kuhnert captures a lion resting, his long-whiskered muzzle on the dark tawny back of his fellow hunter, both animals focusing their amber eyes on prey sensed only by them. The great cats are formed by Kuhnert’s light brush, using strokes of color and texture to build the variegated tones of the lions’ manes as well as their environment of dusty black rocks on scrabbly ground and white, bone-dry trees.

Of all of Kuhnert’s animal subjects, lions were a particular favorite and his deep connection with the animal earned him the nickname “Lion-Kuhnert.” His compositions were equally loved by his many patrons and the present work is likely a commission completed in the studio after 1917, informed by a smaller sketch and his travel diaries which detailed the artist’s encounter with a pride on the hunt.

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When looking at Wilhelm Kuhnert’s oeuvre, one is left with no doubt that the artist was a great lover of wildlife and that he found his subject matter a constant source of inspiration.

His great affinity for the African continent and the Far East stemmed from a desire to experience and capture the exotic. A keen and skilled hunter himself, he was fascinated by the raw and uncompromising dance between prey and predator. Kuhnert returned to Africa year after year in the hunt for both game and subjects for his art.

Wilhelm Kuhnert received his artistic education under the tutelage of the animal painter Paul Meyerheim in Berlin, where he learned to master the rendering of animal fur, hair and muscles. His extraordinary talent was noticed early on by his teachers, who advised him to dedicate his art to capturing the essence of wildlife. The young artist enthusiastically embraced their advice and in pursuit of his chosen genre, he travelled extensively, spending a significant amount of time in Ceylon and East Africa, where he was captivated by the wild beauty of the landscapes and their equally exotic denizens.

At a time when the majority of animal artists were painting their motifs in captivity, Kuhnert distinguished himself from his contemporaries (and indeed his teacher, Meyerheim) by travelling to sketch animals in their natural habitats. During his travels he recorded the dates and places he visited in his diary and made hundreds of charcoal and pencil studies of the animals he saw. Upon returning to Germany, he then completed the works in his studio, drawing upon his experiences and first-hand knowledge gathered from his adventures.