Strokes of Genius - The inspired canvases of Sweden's Bruno Liljefors set a standard for wildlife painting

National Wildlife, Oct-Nov, 2002 by Sarah Boyle

BRUNO LILJEFORS' MODEST REMARK may go down in the annals of wildlife art as the understatement of all time: "I paint animal portraits," he said in 1902.

Liljefors, a Swedish artist who lived from 1860 to 1939, did indeed paint animal portraits. But what portraits! His works combined an appreciation for biological and ecological principles with a mastery of realistic impressionism, setting a new standard for wildlife art. "I would say that he is the greatest wildlife painter," says Martha Hill, author of a biography that celebrates Liljefors' artistry. "He went beyond science and created great pieces of art."

The road to becoming a celebrated painter who could tie the constraints of science to the unfettered possibilities of art began inauspiciously. Sickly as a child, Liljefors spent many of his early years indoors, where he was introduced to painting by his tutor at age six. As he matured, he built up his strength with gymnastics, outdoor exploration and hunting, but he never lost his passion for brushes and paint.

These early experiences in nature provided Liljefors with an intimate knowledge of land, wildlife and the relationships between the two. "He was not only interested in animals, but in total environments and the interplay of animals and nature," says Allan Ellenius, professor emeritus of art history at Uppsala University.

Such knowledge of the natural world formed a basis for the painter's works throughout his career and translated impeccably on each of his canvasses. After observing animals in their natural habitats, Liljefors could accurately convey with his paintbrush their behavior, anatomy and relationship with the environment. "You can tell that he lived with animals and spent a lot of time observing them in the wild," says Diane Jones, former curator of the Genesee Country Museum in Mumford, New York.

At age 22, Liljefors left the Royal Academy of Art in Stockholm, where he had matriculated for formal training, to travel and study art throughout Europe. He eventually arrived in Paris, where he was introduced to the light, color and brushwork characteristic of the Impressionists. Their influence is particularly apparent in his landscape painting Morning. During this period, Japanese prints were also popular and their nature themes and fresh, bird's-eye-view perspectives appealed to Liljefors.

Although influenced by Impressionism, Liljefors never attributed any one style to his paintings.

"His overall concern was to make as vivid a portrait of the animal in its environment as possible," says Hill. "He was intrigued even by the smallest detail."

Liljefors' painting style evolved as he matured as an artist. Although the details and mechanics of nature--the movement of wings in flight, for instance--appealed to him, he managed to capture their essence without transcription of each feather. His later works were more Impressionistic than his earlier ones, but they never became abstract.

Unlike most other wildlife artists of his time, Liljefors ventured into the field to paint his subjects under an array of conditions. The result is a portfolio of works that captures the scope, movement and energy of what he saw. "His paintings are very alive," says Hill. "There's nothing stuffed or dead about any of the animals."

This vitality is evident in Eiders on a Rock, which was painted from a telescopic perspective. The movement of a single female toward rippling water depicts a vibrant early-morning scenario. The work is considered one of Liljefors' masterpieces.

As an experienced outdoorsman, Liljefors understood and recognized the Darwinian struggle for survival among the animals he observed. Two themes that appear frequently in his works relate to this idea: the give and take between predator and prey, and camouflage.Liljefors portrayed the predator and prey relationship with a variety of players and in various stages of the action. "His predator and prey interactions were in his estimation the most intense and dramatic event that an animal would encounter in its life," says Hill.

In Eagle and Hare, Liljefors depicted the mid-drama pursuit of hunter and hunted when it is not yet known whether the prey escapes or the predator wins. But in Fox and Duck, he illustrated the end result of the interaction: The fox is victorious. In other paintings, the predator is not present on the canvas, but it's clearly nearby. "Even in the absence of predators," says Ellenius, "you may be able to feel their presence lurking outside the frame."

Liljefors demonstrated his understanding of the importance of animals blending into their environment in his treatment of camouflage. Shades of brown and green were intriguing, not dull, in his eyes. The first time Liljefors saw these colors in game birds' plumage, he later recalled, "My earlier notions of ugly and beautiful colors were turned upside down by these wonderful combinations which seemed to come from the gray predawn of history, and told of the forest, the marshland, the moss on the rocks, the night sky between branches."