Löwen am Urwaldbach 1911

Wilhelm Kuhnert captured this scene of lions by a stream with oils on canvas. Imagine Kuhnert standing there, easel and brushes in hand, trying to capture the light as it dapples through the trees. Those browns and greens—they build this whole world, and then bam! you’ve got the lions themselves, rendered with such detail, like he really studied their fur and muscles. I think of other painters like Courbet, trying to get at some truth, too, but Kuhnert is after something different. It's not just about showing what’s there, but feeling it, too. The texture of the paint itself, thick in places, thin in others, makes you feel the dampness of the jungle. Look at the lion drinking! That's where you see the intention, that’s the feeling. Painting is like a conversation, right? We're all talking to each other across time, and Kuhnert here, he’s telling his version of the wild.