Carl Rungius (American, born Germany, 1869-1959), “Morning Mist (Harlow Triptych)” (ca. 1930), oil on canvas, 47 x 70” (JKM Collection®, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, Wyoming, © Estate of Carl Rungius)
“Survival of the Fittest: Picturing Wildlife and Wilderness” captures beauty and brutality in the animal world
From a polar bear serenely imprinting a paw into crisp white snow to a peregrine plucking a mallard out of the sky mid-flight, wildlife has its own stories of beauty and brutality that are separate from human-centered perspectives.
Throughout history animals have been portrayed as beasts of burden, as predators and prey, as fashion accessories, as pets. Yet, wildlife art, in which the artist views the animal in its natural habitat and creates works from this careful observation, has not always been taken seriously. Deputy director of curatorial affairs and chief curator at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art William Keyse Rudolph explains, “I think for a long time, museums and maybe art history in general mistakenly identified wildlife art as not being serious or not being something that was our purview — that it was more of the purview of the hunting, fishing crowd.”
The Nelson-Atkins’ latest exhibition, “Survival of the Fittest: Picturing Wildlife and Wilderness, Masterworks from the Rijksmuseum Twenthe and the National Museum of Wildlife Art,” seeks to change this long-held narrative and contextualize the importance of these works both in their time and in ours.
The Nelson-Atkins is the sixth and final stop for “Survival of the Fittest,” which began touring western and wildlife museums, as well as the National Sporting Library & Museum in Middleburg, Virginia, and the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin, in 2023. The Nelson showing is the largest, allowing for an expanded section at the entrance of the exhibition to investigate the practice of wildlife art within Indigenous North American and African traditions that have a long history of portraying nature in art.
Because Kansas City is rich in artistic resources, the Nelson-Atkins was able to pull from its own collection, the Linda Hall Library and the Donald and Adele Hall Collection of African Art to root the exhibition with Indigenous wildlife artwork, historical portrayals of animals in art and first edition copies of “On the Origin of Species” in English and German.
The exhibition features roughly 50 masterworks created by the Big Four — American Carl Rungius (born Germany, 1869-1959), Germans Richard Friese (1854-1918) and Wilhelm Kuhnert (1865-1926), as well as Bruno Liljefors (1860-1939) from Sweden. “Survival of the Fittest” flows through the Big Four’s work with rich color-coded walls to differentiate each artist. Each section of the Big Four opens not only with the artist’s biography, but also with his photo and a map of the habitats he observed.
The first of the Big Four to be featured is Liljefors, who primarily observed wildlife in Scandinavia. Rudolph lovingly referred to this area as “the angry birds section,” as much of the subject matter features realistic depictions of avian life. While some of these moments are peaceful, as in “Swans,” others are ruthless, as in “Hobby Falcon Hunting a Songbird.” Rudolph notes, “They are wonderful, dramatic paintings that do remind us of the fact that not everything is in harmony and coexistence, but then occasionally, we do have quieter, sweet moments.”
Friese, who observed wildlife throughout Europe, the Arctic and briefly in North America, is featured next. His “Arctic Wanderer” melds natural life with human civilization as a young polar bear treks through the snow toward a cairn made by Norwegian walrus hunters. For Rudolph this illustrates that, “It’s not an unspoiled, untouched fantasy. It’s an actual, real place.” This piece also connects to the modernist aesthetic of the time, as the artist crops and flattens the landscape.
Up next is the German-born American Rungius, whose work spans much of North America. In Rungius’ work, meticulously detailed animals are juxtaposed against jagged edges and fractured geometric shapes. “He’s privileging the animal; he’s privileging the creature, but then he’s altering his handling of the setting,” Rudolph explains. In “Old Baldface,” the cover image of the “Survival of the Fittest” catalogue, an aging grizzly bear saunters between the modulated rocks of a mountain range, looking weary.
Lastly is Kuhnert, who spent much of his time in Africa and the Indian subcontinent. More than the other members of the Big Four, his subjects are the animals we are used to seeing in the zoo. Majestic elephants and giraffes are contrasted with herds running from a blazing field. Two pieces intentionally placed next to each other show guinea fowl with their blue bellies and gray feathers in a grassy field, and next to them, a satisfied jackal in the same field lounges near their scattered feathers. It shows, as Rudolph says, “Cruel nature in one go.”
It should be noted that “Survival of the Fittest” does not try to separate the Big Four from the widespread European colonialism of their time. In many ways, their excursions into nature were made possible through colonialism. Though it was a brutal, destructive force to nature and Indigenous people, these artists spurred a conversation around conservation in the west that may not have existed otherwise. The exhibit also asks about art’s role in legislation, like Thomas Moran’s paintings of the Grand Canyon that ultimately led to the creation of Yellowstone National Park in 1872.
The Big Four show nature in its reality as does “Survival of the Fittest.” Rather than traditional labeling that talks about the artwork or the aesthetic, labels in the exhibition explain the behaviors of the animals depicted, their current numbers, wellbeing and any conservation efforts around their preservation. This is one entry point for guests to engage more deeply and connect the dots from early pushes toward conservation and the present climate crisis. There is also the interactive feature, “Conservation Connections,” with wood animals that can be lifted to reveal simple actions to protect them, like turning off lights at night for birds. A looping video of bears in a nature reserve in Alaska provides movement to the static wildlife artworks seen throughout the exhibition. The reading room holds copies of the “Survival of the Fittest” catalogue and reading materials for all ages, including Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” and Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species.”
Just as “Survival of the Fittest” invites viewers to think about their role in the natural world, it also invites museums to reconsider what type of art should be exhibited. Rudolph explains, “We’re in a moment in our industry where we are rethinking our narratives in a variety of ways, both historic and contemporary. It seemed as if this was an opportunity for us to rethink a particular historical area that excluded this material.”
“Survival of the Fittest: Picturing Wildlife and Wilderness, Masterworks from the Rijksmuseum Twenthe and the National Museum of Wildlife Art” continues through Aug. 22 at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday through Monday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Tickets cost $22 for adults, $18 for seniors and $12 for students. Free to museum members and those 12 and under. For more information, 816.751.1278 or www.nelson-atkins.org.
