Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert

Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert ( born September 18, 1865 in Opole, † February 11, 1926 in Flims / Graubünden ) was a German painter, author and illustrator who specialized in animal paintings.

After the termination of a technical-commercial apprenticeship at the age of 17, he was from 1883 to 1887 as a fellow student of the Royal Academic College of Fine Arts. From his residence in Berlin, he traveled to the north, to Egypt, East Africa and India to make landscape and animal studies. His favorite subject was the African lion.

From his 1894 concluded with the 18 -year-old Emilie Caroline Wilhelmine Ottilie Alvine Herdikerhoff marriage a daughter emerged. The marriage was divorced in 1909 after Emilie left during a stay in Ceylon Kuhnert.

1901 appeared the illustrator written by him together with the zoologist Johann Wilhelm Haacke animal life on earth. In 1903 he worked for the Cologne Chocolate producer Ludwig Stollwerck with designs for Stollwerck Collecting pictures and designs included Photo series for the scrapbooks No. 6 and No. 11 also to Brehm's Animal Life he wore numerous illustrations in (born in 1900).

His second wife Kuhnert 1913 Gerda married by Jankowski, who died in 1925 on his 60th birthday.

Contrary to the former practice studied and drew Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert tropical animals not in zoos, but in the great outdoors. He made pictures in the techniques drawing, etching, watercolor and oil. Kuhnert is considered as the most important German animal painters of his time. He was not only a painter and illustrator, but also hunters and often took heavy exertions to track his motives in the wild.

Kuhnert died on February 11, 1926 during a recovery stay in Switzerland. His grave is located in the block epiphanies, Garden Block I, garden spot 85/86 on the West Stahnsdorf near Berlin. His grave stone is decorated with a lion relief of George Roch after a self-created by Kuhnert drawing.

Works

• Tiger on the prowl, oil on canvas, 160 cm ( Auktionshaus Stahl Hamburg 2011)
• In the land of my models. Leipzig 1918
• My animals: the etchings Wilhelm Kuhnert. Berlin 1925
• Full Catalogue of original etchings by the artist. Berlin 1927