Bob Kuhn
1920-2007
Leopard, 1973
mixed media on paperboard
signed and dated lower right: Kuhn 73
18 x 26 in.; Frame: 30 1/2 x 37 1/8 x 1 3/8 in.

Provenance:
Rowland Ward Ltd., Nairobi, Kenya
Acquired by the present owner from the above, circa 1985

This leopard painting by Bob Kuhn epitomizes his mature command of wildlife drama, design, and texture. Kuhn’s hallmark surfaces are everywhere: bark built from layered, knife-edged strokes and scumbled color, and a coat of rosettes rendered with just enough specificity to convince, but never so tight that the pattern deadens the form.

Kuhn handles the violence in this scene with remarkable restraint, letting it register only in the quiet drama at the right edge. There, the faint form of the antelope—partially obscured by branches—suggests a recent kill without diminishing the calm demeanor of the leopard. The antelope’s pale flank and angled legs echo the diagonal thrust of the leopard’s body, visually binding predator and prey while keeping the narrative almost subliminal.

Typical of his post-1970 easel work, the setting is pared back; light and space dissolve into an almost abstract pale background that pushes the leopard and tree into sharp relief, recalling the color-field influences that freed Kuhn from illustrative realism. The result is a painting that reads first as a dynamic, modern design and only second as a natural history study—an elegant fusion that helps explain Kuhn’s status as one of the great wildlife painters of the twentieth century.

The artwork appears to be in very good condition. The frame appears to be in good condition with miter splits and general wear and tear.