Conservation
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Bob Kuhn: An American Master
This chapter is featured in Records of North American Big Game, 15th Edition
Few wildlife artists can capture the majesty of life and the raw power of death in vivid detail. Far fewer are capable of leaving a legacy. Bob Kuhn did both. See how his love for wildlife and art inspired a generation of hunters and anglers in this chapter from the Club's latest publication, Records of North American Big Game, 15th Edition.
Bob Kuhn's illustrations graced the covers of hook and bullet magazines in the 1950s and ‘60s, and later, his fine art paintings found a home in distinctive collections and museums across America.
From prehistoric cave drawings to the faded red oxide images on the walls of Canyon Creek just a few miles from my Montana studio, man has been drawing images of animals since ancient times. Beautifully executed, they are drawn with fluid impressionistic strokes. Many believe these images may have been created as a hunter’s magic, a way to increase the abundance of prey. I can tell you from experience that maybe our hunter-gather ancestors were just having fun. Creating a form where moments ago there was nothing can be hypnotic and addicting. When that image comes to life right before your eyes, it is exhilarating, and you want to do it again and again. My old mentor, Hollis Williford, used to say that a good drawing should have visual flow, the line should have life. Like a Jedi Master, he would tell me to let loose and go with the Force. It is that perfect connection between hand and mind—something like the flow state of an athlete or the total immersion of a hunter during a stalk. The mind is completely invested in the moment. Bob Kuhn felt that life force from a very early age. As a child, he spent hours drawing at the zoo and copying pictures in outdoor magazines. This insatiable thirst would drive him for the rest of his life.
I had the good fortune to meet Bob in 1992 when I enrolled in one of his workshops. Right away, we hit it off, and a lifelong friendship formed. Over the years, I treasured his guidance and mentorship. His critique of my work was sound, honest, and most appreciated. Always humble and kind, he was a true gentleman; I always knew I was in the company of greatness.
Robert Frederick Kuhn was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1920. It was the golden age of illustration—a time before photography became widespread. Editors relied on Illustrators to graphically bring stories to life and create compelling cover art that would coax people into snatching up magazines. It was an important job, and the talented artists were paid handsomely. N.C. Wyeth, J.C. Leyendecker, Norman Rockwell, and Dean Cornwell were household names. Bob often said, “It was a time when illustrators were big shots.” Paul Bransom and Charles Livingston Bull were two of the leading animal illustrators of the day. Bull was one of the premiere wildlife artists of the early 1900s and is widely remembered for his work in Jack London’s Call of the Wild. “Of all the wildlife artists, none so profoundly affected me as did Paul Bransom,” Bob said. “I was captivated by his confident, sure touch with animals done simply and with knowledge. The forms and gestures of his animals were right, distilled with first-hand observation.” Upon graduating high school, Bob conjured up the courage to reach out to Bransom for critique and guidance. Bransom was accommodating, and it would be one of the best moves Bob ever made. The veteran artist saw great promise in Bob’s work and could tell he had the fire in his belly. Bransom encouraged him to draw every day, always study the animals, and really drink them in—to observe them as if he would never see them again. It was advice Bob would take to heart.
With a career in illustration firmly in mind, Bob enrolled at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. After graduating in 1940, he had a solid foundation in anatomy, drawing, and composition. At Pratt, Bob would meet the love of his life and future wife, Elizabeth Casey. With determination and a yeoman’s work ethic, Bob hit the pavement of New York City, hoping to break into the Illustration trade. His talent soon drew the attention of editors and ad agencies alike, and the assignments began to roll in. With World War II raging, Bob would join the Merchant Marine. Assigned to a Liberty ship, he would somehow find the time to keep up a few accounts and even illustrate the children’s book Big Red by Jim Kjelgarrd, a classic still in print today. By age 25, Bob had even fulfilled his dream of creating cover art for Outdoor Life, which was quite a coup for someone so young. At the war’s end, he would hit his stride. His lively brushwork and exciting compositions attracted the attention of not only Outdoor Life but also Field & Stream, Sports Afield, and many other periodicals.
As Bob’s reputation grew, so did the opportunities to go afield with rifle, shotgun, and sketchbook. In 1955 he made his first trip to Alaska with Field & Stream editor Warren Page. A year later he would again accompany Page, this time on safari in Africa. He would document the trip with camera, pencil, and drawing pad. If possible, he would do a little hunting for himself. Africa was still very wild. The immense numbers of wildlife, the vast landscape, and its vivid colors profoundly affected Bob. He experienced firsthand the heart-pounding, hair-trigger intensity of following up a wounded cape buffalo, the thornbush and the dreaded Tsetse fly. The hunt was conducted by famed Professional Hunter Anthony Dyer. Tony and Bob would become best friends, later collaborating on the book, The Big Five. Enthralled with Africa, Bob returned many times and became well known for his engaging portrayals of African big game. He was called to illustrate articles and books for such well-known authors as Elmer Keith, Larry Koller, and Robert Ruark. He did the artwork for Jim Corbett’s Man Eater and J. A. Hunter’s Hunter.
By the 1960s, Bob was well-established as a contender in the sporting art tradition. The Remington Arms Company brought him on to produce their annual calendar. The calendar became so immensely popular that the company issued portfolios of prints. The top brass at Remington were so pleased with the notoriety he brought to their brand that they gave him wide latitude to create the images as he saw fit. Bob would later say that it was a stepping stone to finally shedding the yoke of Illustration and moving on to a career in fine art. Bob used his spare time to diligently work on his easel art, and it wasn’t long before he amassed enough work to hold his first one-man show. Displayed on the second-floor gallery of Abercrombie and Fitch (at the time it was a sporting goods emporium), the opening coincided with the New York City blackout of 1965. Patrons were not deterred, though. They used lanterns from the sporting goods department, and the show went on. Nearly all the work sold, and Bob’s confidence grew.
In 1970, Bob finally broke away from his lucrative illustration accounts. Influenced by modern artists such as Mark Rothko’s “multiform” color field paintings, Nikolai Timkov’s color schemes, and the lyrical compositions of Richard Diebenkorn, Bob’s work was unique, breaking new ground in the genre of wildlife art. His thousands of field studies and hundreds of hours of direct observation allowed him to create gestures full of life, not delineated hair-for-hair but broadly painted with authority and visual excitement. He mastered the illusion of motion, orchestrating the deadly contest between predator and prey. His works were true to life and authentic, yet he wasn’t a documentarian. Instead, he carefully wrought poetry from his paintbrush. He liked to say that good painting was like watching a good skier in action. “He doesn’t simply get from the top of the hill to the bottom. He hits the moguls, carves some beautiful turns, and throws in a lot of fancy stuff.” There is inexplicable magic in a Kuhn painting. It never grows tired. With every viewing, there are new discoveries. Like those cave paintings in ancient times, Bob captured the true essence and spirit of his subjects.
Bob passed in 2007. He had a stellar career as an illustrator and would reach rarified air as a fine artist. He won numerous awards and achieved continuous sell-out success. Today his works are in museum collections from coast to coast, with the largest body of work on display at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Demand for his work has remained strong. When works come up for auction, the bidding is fierce, with six-figure sums common. He is considered by patrons and art historians alike to be the pre-eminent wildlife artist of his generation. It has often been said he was simply without peer.
The Boone and Crockett Club has a long history of artist participation dating back to Albert Bierstadt, one of the founding members. Recruited by Roosevelt and Grinnell, Bierstadt was a veteran of rigorous Western expeditions and had seen firsthand how wildlife was being decimated. His now-famous painting, “The Last of the Buffalo,” brought broad public awareness to their plight. The magnificent tableau is a window back in time. The foreground is covered in bones, dead and dying bison, and a fallen Native American hunter. Warriors mounted on swift horses engaged in the hunt of glory days occupy the middle ground, while the background contains vast herds of wildlife, filling a grand expanse of untrammeled country. Since that time, there have been many other artists elected to membership. Those names include Alexander Phimster Proctor, Carl Rungius, George Browne, and Bob’s mentor, Paul Bransom. They have all felt the kinship of seeking great adventure as sportsmen. They also carried the heavy burden of knowing that wildlife and wildlands need the hard work of conservation to persist. Through their toil, funds have been raised, awareness spread, and stories told. Bob was elected as a member in 1980, once again following in the footsteps of Paul Bransom. He was an artist, a hunter, and with his deep love of wildlife and wild places, an ardent conservationist.
Records of North American Big Game, 15th Edition
Long considered “The Book” of big game records, Boone and Crockett Club’s newest edition of its All-Time records book—Records of North American Big Game—is the most complete big game records book cataloging the greatest big game ever taken in North America. Available in paperback or as a hard-cover with slipcase collector's edition.
These one-of-a-kind records books live up to their long-standing reputation with more than 36,000 trophy listings, hundreds of color photos and intriguing chapters. In its fifteenth edition since the original book was published by B&C in 1932, this latest edition has grown to nearly 1,000 pages split between two-volumes.
What's Inside
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Listings of more than 36,000 native North American big game trophies in 38 categories—an increase of over 4,500 trophies from the previous edition—including B&C final and gross scores, detailed measurements, plus location and year taken.
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Two new World’s Records since the previous edition— musk ox and bighorn sheep.
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Stories, photos, and score charts for the World’s Records in all 38 categories, plus over 300 photographs of the top-ranking animals.
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Over 600 color photographs of hunters in the field.
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Entertaining chapters and photo essays that every outdoorsman will enjoy including updates on the current status of desert bighorn sheep and Columbia blacktail deer, a special photo essay about wildlife artist Bob Kuhn, plus special sections on Betty and Grancel Fitz, the Club's National Collection of Heads and Horns and stories about trophies lost to history.
Order your Hardcover Collector's Set today! (limited to 1,000)
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