Lion and Wildebeest by Robert Bateman

Lion and Wildebeest by Robert Bateman

 

Published 1987

 

"Here a male lion walks in plain view of a herd of wildebeest, the favorite food of lions where their ranges overlap. The wildebeests know the lion is their enemy, but they aren't worried now because he's not hunting; it's all in the body language, which is very well understood by animals.

I designed this painting to play up the herd of wildebeest and to show that a few are keeping an eye on the lion. I deliberately painted the lion as subdued and almost transparent, partly as a reaction to the normal dramatic depiction and partly because lions do blend with the landscape." - R. Bateman