Author Description

"Survival of the Fittest features forty-five masterworks created by an influential group of painters known today as the Big Four. Working during the late 1800s and early 1900s, these artists presented a vision of wildlife and wilderness that remains with us to this day. Their careers also influenced generations of artists interested in painting wildlife in the twentieth century. Members of the Big Four include American Carl Rungius (born Germany, 1869-1959), Germans Richard Friese (1854-1918) and Wilhelm Kuhnert (1865-1926), as well as Swede Bruno Liljefors (1860-1939). While other institutions hold significant collections of work by individual members of the Big Four, the Rijksmuseum Twenthe in Enschede, Netherlands, and the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming, United States, are the only museums in the world to hold multiple masterworks by each member of the group. Survival of the Fittest brings together the best paintings from these two esteemed institutions to create a stunning exhibition that will visually impress visitors as it explores a range of topical subjects. Survival of the Fittest contextualizes the work of the Big Four internationally within the frames of colonialism, Darwinism, art history, land and wildlife conservation, and Indigenous people's ways of seeing nature. Survival of the Fittest investigates how art shapes not only our personal vision of wildlife and wilderness, but also how it mirrors greater attitudes and perceptions on an international scale."--Introduction.