2017 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction / Lot 94
94
David Shepherd (1931 – 2017)
Black Rhino (1969)
oil on canvas
28 × 44 inches
signed lower right
VERSO
Signed and dated
The artist wrote, “The Tsavo National Park is, or was, a very good place to see rhino. This marvelous animal, who has been with us for sixty million years, is now on the brink of extinction—small wonder when his ‘horn’ is more valuable pound for pound weight than gold. A wildlife poster to draw attention to the animal’s plight features a rhino’s portrait and, underneath, it says, ‘I’m ugly, nobody loves me.’ In fact, he has as much right to exist as the rest of us.”