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Overview
Gladwell Patterson have long championed David’s artistic and charitable work, across the three generations of the Fuller family. Together with the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, the gallery held the first retrospective exhibition of David’s work since his death in January 2019.
David Shepherd stands as one of the most influential wildlife painters of the past century, an artist whose deep affinity for the natural world shaped a career of remarkable breadth and significance. His paintings, at once commanding and tender, reflect a lifelong bond with the animals of Africa, a connection forged in Kenya in 1960, where a commission for the RAF set him on an artistic path that would define his life’s work. It was there, confronted by the beauty of the wild and the brutality of its threats, that David’s vocation as both artist and conservationist took root.
The power of his paintings lies not only in their technical mastery: the confident sweep of his brush, careful orchestration of tone and balance between photorealism and impressionist breadth. Elephants emerge with monumental grace, tigers with a quiet, unstoppable presence; even the vast African landscapes serve not as backdrop but as a stage upon which each animal’s dignity is affirmed. What resonates most is the empathy that animates every canvas, a quality that reflects David’s unwavering belief in the value of the wildlife he devoted his career to protecting.
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Works for sale
David Shepherd British, 1931-2017
Old FaithfulOil on Canvas51 x 91.5 cms / 20 x 36 inchesSigned 'David Shepherd' (lower right)Description
As Shepherd’s favourite animal, elephants were the subject that the artist returned to most often for his wildlife pictures. Early in his career Shepherd was given the chance to see his first elephants in the wild by Mervyn Cowie, a pioneering conservationist, at Amboseli in Kenya; an experience which was to have a profound effect upon his life’s work. Describing Amboseli as ‘raw, unspoiled Africa’, Shepherd delighted at the opportunity to get close to elephants in great numbers, all the while observing and photographing them for his subject paintings. These such encounters led to a special affinity between the artist and the animal; a connection which found a perpetual outlet in his artistic production. Often working en plein air, Shepherd’s depictions of the African bush offer perhaps the most authentic representation of its wildlife and scenery, made possible by on the spot observation. Armed with his selection of oil paints, palette, and brush, the adventurous artist would wander the reserves of Africa in search of his next subject. In this particular example, straying from a disfigured tree, this elephant has treated itself to a dust bath in relief of the heat of the midday sun. A true master of colour, Shepherd most wonderfully represents the bright orange hue of the African dust in which these animals delight. Gladwell & Patterson have long championed David’s artistic and charitable work, across the three generations of the Fuller family. Our 275-year-old gallery has been privileged to display David’s superb paintings over the decades. Together the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, the gallery held the first retrospective exhibition of David’s work since his death in January 2019. The exhibition raised awareness and funds for the Foundations continuing work with a percentage of proceeds from the sale of the paintings during this exhibition donated to the Foundation for educational projects in Zambia.
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