Bob Kuhn (American, 1920-2007) Fire Storm, 1975

Lot 163. signed 'Kuhn' (upper left) - acrylic on masonite - 23¾ x 48 in. (60.3 x 121.9 cm.) - Painted in 1975. Estimate: $180,000-220,000

Provenance : Purchased from the artist.

Literature : Tom Davis, Wild Harvest The Animal Art of Bob Kuhn, Sporting Classics and Wildlife Art Magazine, 1997, p. 69, illustrated.

Exhibited :  Jackson Hole, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Bob Kuhn: Painting The Wild, 7 June-22 September, 2002, illustrated in catalogue pl. 6.
Los Olivos, Wildlife Art Museum, Bob Kuhn: Mammals Up Close and Personal, 17 September, 2005-8 January, 2006.

Note : Kuhn described this inspiration for this work, 'This is a fanciful rendition of an emergency most wild creatures learn to cope with. The mule deer running ahead of the tree-gobbling inferno don't know it, but within a year or two the charred forest floor will be covered with new growth and their food supply will have been refurbished by something that's not only destructive, but life-giving as well.' (op. cit., p. 69).

Christie's. Sporting & Wildlife Art including the Collection of Doug and Ellen Miller. 28 November 2007, 10:00 am. 20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York

NEW YORK.-Christie’s auction of Sporting and Wildlife Art realized $6,254,963/£3,036,390/€4,255,077. The top lot was Fire Storm by Bob Kuhn from the Doug and Ellen Miller Collection which sold for $657,000/£318,932/€446,939 setting a world auction record for the artist.

Clare McKeon, VP, British & Irish Art, said: “We are delighted with the result of today's Sporting & Wildlife Art sale including the Collection of Doug & Ellen Miller. We saw keen bidding from American and European private collectors as well as from an American Institution. There was strong competition for traditional sporting artists such as John Ferneley, Alfred Munnings, Thomas Blinks and John Emms. Bidding was fierce and world auction records were set for renowned wildlife artists Bob Kuhn, James Lippet Clark, Dylan Lewis, William R. Leigh and David Shepherd. This sale concludes a highly successful year for the Sporting Art Department with international sales of $16,476,757 including our inaugural Dog Sale in New York. We look forward to the next Sporting & Wildlife Art Sale in May 2008.” (by courtesy of www.Artdaily.org)