David Shepherd British, 1931-2017

The Kill depicts a pair of lions together with their recent kill, a young African buffalo. In the wild, lions and buffalo maintain a notorious rivalry. The male and female lion in this scene have proven themselves to be brave and skilful hunters with their young buffalo prey. There is however a distinct wariness apparent in the female lion as she lies poised, ears pricked, head cocked, and with widened eyes. The male lion too averts his gaze to look in the same direction, as perhaps there is a threat of vengeance-seeking buffalo that are approaching in the distance before them; an encounter which we, as the viewer, are immersed in. The formal qualities of the work act as to recreate a lifelike, first-hand experience from nature. By the use of subtle shifts between elements that are in and out of focus the scene has been captured in the way as it would be seen by the human eye, rather than by as it would with a camera. Broad, sweeping brushstrokes and thick impasto texture transform the work from a painting towards a physical manifestation of the wild. The artist’s impeccable accuracy with his representation of colour, light, and tone cements why David Shepherd is unmatched in his field, as he takes us as close to his moment of witnessing these creatures in their natural environment as is possible in any medium.