Unknown

Huge Vintage Neoclassical Painted Panel with a Leopard and Monkeys

Circa 1980

Fanciful vintage Haitian acrylic painting on canvas of a leopard in a whimsical woodland setting with flowers and trees, executed in a distinctive naive style. Signed F. Pierre and p...

Whimsical Italian oil painting on canvas of a lion in a night sky with stars and a moon, executed in a distinctive primitive naive style. Signed on the bottom C. Barreto and noted on...

Standout acrylic painting on canvas of a panther eyeing some unsuspecting flamingos while a bird looks on, executed in a charming naive style. Signed paradis 81 and presented in a wo...

Charming mid century acrylic painting on canvas of a leopard with fauna and flora, executed in an enchanting naive style. Signed Paradis 82 and presented in a wood frame.

A mid 17th century large scale oil on canvas depicting a Leopardess, a Lioness and a Wolf toying with a Dead Hare in an Arcadian landscape; in the style of the Dutch Golden Age ‘Animaliers’ and the circle of Frans Snijders. Large canvases of hunting scenes, often featuring exotic animals such as leopards and lions, were initially popularised by the celebrated painter and diplomat Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), and rapidly became a fixture of seventeenth-century patrician residences across Europe. They were heirs to the Renaissance tradition of tapestries representing hunts, which had long been a form of princely decoration, but had typically required much greater expenditures of time and money. A monumental Wolf and Fox Hunt painted by Rubens in about 1616 – now in New York’s Metropolitan Museum – is considered one of the master’s earliest forays into this genre (fig. 1), alongside a set of four large hunting scenes originally executed for Elector Maximilian of Bavaria (c. 1616), featuring a Hippopotamus and Crocodile Hunt (Alte Pinakothek, Munich); a Wild Boar Hunt (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Marseilles); a Tiger Hunt (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rennes); and a Lion Hunt destroyed by fire in Bordeaux in 1870. This type of composition – with its energetic treatment of the subject, its references to exotic and powerful beasts and its vibrant atmosphere – immediately appealed to patrons and was enthusiastically embraced by artists both within and outside Rubens’ immediate circle. Among the former were fellow Flemish painters Frans Snyders (1579-1657) and his brother-in-law Paul de Vos (c. 1591-1678), each of whom collaborated with Rubens on important commissions, while also pursuing the genre of hunting scenes as part of their respective studio practices. Indeed, both are now predominantly remembered for their dynamic representations of hunts, which – differently to Rubens’ – chiefly focus on the animals, without the presence of human figures. This characteristic is shared by the present composition, which highlights the interaction between the beasts themselves, their feral nature and proximity enhancing the scene’s dramatic undercurrent. The wolf on the left, baring its teeth to defend its prey, is carefully observed, including its blood-shot eyes, salivating mouth, and thick fur, which all find parallels in compositions by Rubens and his circle (fig. 2). Similarly, the lioness emerging from behind a tree trunk in the background is a citation from a famous composition by Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder...

Intriguing vintage acrylic painting on canvas of a leopard in repose glowing in the light of the moon, executed in a unique naive style with a reference to French impressionist Henr...

Pair of stunning 17th / 18th Century Italian School oil on canvas mounted on board paintings of Lions and Leopards. Italian artists incorporated ele...

Fanciful vintage Haitian acrylic painting on canvas of a leopard in a whimsical woodland setting with flowers and trees, executed in a distinctive naive style. Signed F. Pierre and p...