Bruno Liljefors

Bruno Liljefors was destined to become an wild life painter from the very beginning. He wrote home during his first term at the Academy of Fine Arts: "Professor Holm tells me now and then that I must unconditionally devote myself to animal painting, for that is what I am cut out for." Liljefors did not allow himself to be bound by tradition's perception of which animals were worthy of being artistically immortalised. In his childhood, he wanted to paint lions and tigers, but he came to depict the animals of his homeland, though not the domesticated ones like horses and cows. It was the wild life that he wanted to paint, and among them, he chose models without prejudice.

The cat and the fox often became the main characters, despite many considering them to be criminals, sly murderers that prey on innocent birds. In "Hounds on a Fox Hunt," executed in 1894, it is the completed hunt that is depicted. He admired the Hamilton hounds for their completeness and believed that, unlike setters and pointers, they had something primitive about them that suited the realm of the wild. From a young age, he had become a passionate hunter and spent much time hunting or simply wandering in the Uppland countryside, where he settled in the late 1880s. In "The Realm of the Wild," Bruno Liljefors describes how the hound goes about its business when out on a fox hunt: "The hound searches the terrain in wide circles in front of its master. It crosses a clearing, a small meadow in the forest. It is just damp enough in the grass. It senses where a hare has passed and shortly thereafter how a fox track comes up. It investigates and finds that the hare has been taken by the fox and dragged away. It lifts its head and scents the faint wind from the mountain, which informs it that up there lies the fox with its hare. For the dog, it is as simple and natural as reading a book."

Bruno Liljefors examined nature closely and often alternated with visits to the Veterinary Institute, where he could study the anatomy of animals, such as a stuffed fox, a fox skeleton, or, at best, a living fox. From Anders Zorn, he learned how to paint fur after he had shown his classmate a painting of a fox during his studies and received the comment, "It looks as if the hairs have been glued on." Liljefors later recounted that Zorn had then taken out a piece of paper and a large brush, smeared it with thick watercolour paint, and then waved the paper so that the colour ran in all directions. At first, Liljefors thought Zorn was joking with him, but when the watercolour dried, a brilliantly rendered fox pelt emerged on the paper! In "Hounds on a Fox Hunt," one can truly see how skilled Bruno Liljefors became at painting fox fur! The Hamilton hounds are depicted convincingly, without human traits or expressions. Liljefors painted realistically, straight up and down, what he saw in nature.