On my birthday about 4 years ago, my wife told me she got me something but it hadn't come in the mail yet. After a couple of weeks she finally got the package. I asked her what took so long as I opened the gift to reveal the Bob Kuhn book I've been wanting. She told me that this was one of the last few books that the seller had available and he was a friend of Bob Kuhn's. Bob Kuhn was in the hospital at the time. The guys selling the book took the book over to Bob in the hospital to have him sign it for me. This made the gift that much more special! It was unfortunate but Bob died shortly after.
Bob was one of the best wild animal painters of his time. I was always impressed with how well he captured the gestures of animals in his paintings. His style of painting was very loose and often the ground of his intial lay-in would remain in the final, a kind of a Bernie Fuchs or John Harris feel. It's so inpiring to see how much he could get with so little.
The book is now out of print and going for around $150. It has 168 pages with 133 color plates and 36 b&w illustrations. The first edition was limited to 4,800 copies and comes with an "Artist's Book Plate" certifying the copy. You can still buy used copies on Amazon.com
That book is all kinds of amazing; I've been hunting for an affordable copy for some time, but I think I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and drop the cash on it before it raises in price even more.
ReplyDeleteYou're spot on with the Fuchs/Harris comparison, especially in pieces like the polar bear you posted; the abstractions he would choose and the way he would design out his large shapes was something that set him apart from his hyper-rendered realism peers.
Simply put, the way he approached the painting of wildlife was fantastic.
-tb
Haha I expected a comment from the Baggy! I'm suprised you don't have the book already.
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