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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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Werke
David Shepherd British, 1931-2017
Muffin’s Pups, 1983Oil on Canvas44 x 59 cms / 17¼ x 23¼ inchesSigned 'David Shepherd 1983' (lower right)Weitere Abbildungen
Description
Trips to Africa were a plenty throughout his long and enchanting career, he would sketch insistently, often making notes of colours and textures alongside. David then painted his final compositions in his studio back in Surrey in England, surrounded by the families devoted pets and neighbouring farm animals. Muffin was David and April’s beloved bearded collie. Muffin’s Pups is a tender portrait of eight glorious puppies from Muffin’s first litter. David wrote; “They all began very quickly to develop their own special and diverse characters. At the time of the painting, they were seven weeks old and getting to the point where the mayhem and pandemonium at feeding time was such that they were not only a burden to their mother but to everyone else concerned". David’s technique of combining photorealism with his broad Impressionist style and his impeccably accurate palette, instantly strikes a chord with the viewer, but above all it is his love of the animals that shines through in his paintings creating an instant connection for them with his audience. The fluffy puppy fur and delicious button noses of Muffin’s litter are simply irresistible.
Literature
Shepherd, David, David Shepherd: The Man and his Paintings, 1985, pp.96 - 97Contact FormSend me more information on David Shepherd