23500
The type of porcelain: White, painted
Height: 36 cm
Width: 53 cm
Weight: 5300 g
Vendor code: 936184-9M233-1

Wild Elephants

23500
Vendor code: 936184-9M233-1

As early as the 17th century, the poet and priest John Donne described elephants as "nature's great masterpiece" and "the giant of beasts": a hymn of praise that is powerfully echoed in Detlef Ritter's wall painting "Wild Elephants". Meissen's painter was inspired by his many trips to Africa, on which he had the opportunity to observe the animals up close. In warm earth tones, he depicts a fictional scene playing out amidst the Savannah landscape of Kruger National Park. The steppe soil, captured in radiant vermilion, almost seems to be on fire, lending the image a vibrant energy. To bring the image to life on porcelain, Ritter uses a combination of under- and on-glaze painting that require exceptional skill and foresight from the artist in order to achieve the desired intensity after multiple firings. The image shows a mother elephant, her young, and a bull elephant. The latter is based on Shawu, a symbol of the national park and one of the Magnificent Seven - a group of seven large bull elephants that became living legends of the park. With his expressive, energetic depiction, Ritter has created a picturesque monument to the bull elephant and, in turn, to the rich heritage of Kruger National Park.

Wild Elephants Art Salon Wild Elephants
23500 Art Salon