Wilhelm Kuhnert
1865-1926
Steppenbrand
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas
DIMENSIONS: 21 1/4 x 33 1/2 inches
Signed lower left
SHIPPING DIMENSIONS: 31 x 43 inches
SOLD FOR: $120,000.00
Including Buyers Premium
2026 - APRIL,
LOT 274
Additional Information
Provenance:
Private collection, Texas
The title of this painting, Steppenbrand, is a German word meaning wildfire, specifically steppe fire or prairie fire. Although a great distance from the fire, the large bull elephant in Kuhnert’s painting is seemingly in distress as it flees the encroaching flames. Elephants can outrun most grass fires, but winds can speed up the spread of the fire and rough terrain can slow the pachyderms. Either can result in elephant deaths. The artist must have known this when he painted Steppenbrand, which uses dark smoke as an ominous adversary lurking on the horizon.
Wilhelm Kuhnert is regarded as one of the great wildlife artists, in addition to one of the best painters of large cats, which is how he acquired the nickname Lion. He is part of the “Big Four” of animal artists, which also includes Richard Friese, Bruno Liljefors and Carl Rungius. Born in Germany, Kuhnert studied art in Berlin before traveling to Egypt, East Africa and India. It was on these trips where he honed his skills as an animal painter. Although he painted more than 5,500 paintings, it is thought that less than 1,000 survive today.