"A Trophy Day"
Oil on panel 16x20
SOLD

      It is around 1906 when Famous Austrian white hunter, Fritz Schindelar set out on Safari from the Norfolk Hotel, Nairobi. On the way he encountered and was charged by a large male lion, which he immediately shot and brought down. The story goes that as the lion lay dying he took the beast’s head and cradled it in his arms until it expired.
      In my painting I’ve imagined the moment the hunters return to camp, which is still in the process of being set up. The lion, now dead, has been brought back to camp by the Kikuyu bearers and the witnesses to the shooting are recounting the story as Fritz rests from his ordeal, in the foreground tent.
      The story was no doubt repeated and expanded upon many times at the Norfolk bar, where a photo of the incident hung for many years. The real irony is that Fritz would later meet his death by Lion.