Lot 29
Bob Kuhn(1920-2007)Elephants in the African Veldt 32 x 40in framed 42 x 49 3/4in
26 February 2021, 13:00 PST
Los AngelesSold for US$44,062.50 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
Our California Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot
Aaron Bastian
Director
Kathy Wong
Senior Director, Fine Art
Bob Kuhn (1920-2007)
Elephants in the African Veldt
signed and dated 'Kuhn -62' (lower right), signed again faintly 'Kuhn' (upper left), signed again and dedicated 'PAINTED for BERRY BROOKS / -BOB KUHN' (on the reverse)
acrylic on Masonite
32 x 40in
framed 42 x 49 3/4in
Painted in 1962.
signed and dated 'Kuhn -62' (lower right), signed again faintly 'Kuhn' (upper left), signed again and dedicated 'PAINTED for BERRY BROOKS / -BOB KUHN' (on the reverse)
acrylic on Masonite
32 x 40in
framed 42 x 49 3/4in
Painted in 1962.
Footnotes
Provenance
The Collection of Berry B. Brooks.
Bob Kuhn was fascinated with animals ever since he as a young child, spending days observing and sketching them at the Buffalo Zoo in New York. As a teenager, Kuhn deeply admired the work of the wildlife illustrator and painter Paul Bransom and reached out to him for professional advice. Bransom encouraged Kuhn to keep observing animals from life and told him, 'When you look at an animal, look at it as though you may never see it again.' 1 Kuhn took Bransom's advice to heart. Capturing an animal's essential nature is considered Kuhn's signature approach, having guided his work for over fifty years.
Kuhn enrolled at the Pratt Institute in 1937 where he studied design and life drawing. Upon graduating in 1940, to make ends meet, Kuhn worked as a freelance illustrator for magazines and ad agencies. Over the next few years, he worked his way up to the 'big three' sporting publications of Field & Stream, Outdoor Life and Sports Afield, where he landed several cover illustrations.
Kuhn went on his first African safari in 1956 with Warren Page, the shooting editor for Field & Stream. He traveled of his own accord, without the pressure of being on assignment. He sketched and painted freely, creating what he considered then to be his best work. 2 His safari experience was the inspiration he needed to move away from commercial illustration and pursue easel painting full time. Kuhn held his first gallery solo exhibition in 1965 and transitioned out of commercial work by 1970.
Brooks made Kuhn's acquaintance through safari circles and commissioned two paintings — the present work and Ahmed, a portrait of the legendary bull elephant who was protected by Kenyan presidential decree. Ahmed became well-known as the cover illustration to sportsman Anthony Dyer's book Classic African Animals: The Big Five in 1973.
The present work depicts a herd of bull elephants, much like the ones that Brooks encountered on his second African safari in 1949. This seven-month safari led Brooks through Kenya, Sudan and Rhodesia in search of the African 'big five' mammals of elephant, rhino, lion, leopard, and Cape buffalo. Brooks believed that the elephant 'stands unchallenged in first place. He's the real king of the beasts, the monarch of the bush, and the most dangerous big-game animal on the face of the earth.' 3 Brooks was on a mission to find the biggest bull elephant then known to man with tusks 'six arms out' — approximately four feet.
Brooks found him — and the present work was likely commissioned to mark this or a similar occasion. 'And for a few seconds,' he recounted, 'I think my heart stopped beating. The bull was about 400 yards off, walking toward me along the edge of a strip of forest. I could hardly believe there was such an elephant left in Africa. He was about twelve feet tall at the shoulders and could not have weighed less than seven tons. His skin hung in loose folds, draped on him like a wrinkled gray sack. And his gleaming tusks, perfectly matched and heavy, curved down so close to the ground that they almost touched as he walked. Here was bulk and power to stagger the imagination. Here was the emperor of beasts, majestic and huge, walking with the calm dignity of royalty upon him. Here was the grandfather of all elephants, bigger than any animal I had ever hoped to see!' 5
1 T. Davis, 'The Animal Art of Bob Kuhn,' Field & Stream, March, 2008, p. S4.
2 A. D. Harris, ed., Bob Kuhn: Drawing on Instinct, Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 2012, p. 38.
3 Berry B. Brooks, 'Elephant Six Arms Out!,' Outdoor Life, December 1951, p. 17.
4 Ibid, p 47.
5 Ibid, p. 49.
