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Carl Rungius

(Berlin, Germany, 1869 - 1959, New York City, NY)

Artist Carl Clemens Moritz Rungius was born in Rixdorf, Germany, now a part of Berlin, in August, 1869. From an early age, Rungius had interest in hunting and knew he wanted to paint wildlife. School was an obstacle for Rungius, who had an extreme dislike for coursework, but he completed his classes and passed his examinations. His father did not like his ambitions to be a painter, but eventually allowed it as an option, provided his son begin with the acceptable profession of house painting. So, Carl's next three summers were spent as an apprentice, painting walls and woodwork. From 1888 to 1890, Carl Rungius studied art at the Berlin Art Academy, looking into courses in ornamental design. However, he did not find this line of study very interesting, preferring to spend time studying and painting animals at the zoo. This did not give him the hands-on experience with the animals that he felt was necessary for his craft, and so he found ways to study the musculature, bone structure, and general anatomy of animals at a glue factory, as well as using the stray cats that his father sometimes shot and passed on to him. This unpleasant work he felt was necessary to his development artistically. In 1894 he made a trip to Maine at the invitation of his Uncle Clemens, during which he developed a robust enthusiasm for wildlife. He hunted throughout the next year in Wyoming, stalking the animals to learn their behavior, and using his trophies to continue his studies of wildlife anatomy. This experience convinced him to move permanently to America in 1986. In 1907 he married his cousin Louise, daughter to his Uncle Clemens, with the mutual understanding that they would not have children because of their relation as cousins, a decision that neither of them ever seemed to regret. Rungius worked by commission for hunters and naturalists who wanted illustrations for their publications to protect endangered animals. In 1909 Carl abandoned illustration to become an easel painter, but his works continued to circulate. in 1910 he traveled to the Canadian Rockies, where he settled in Banff in a studio he built and named "The Paintbox." He would paint a large number of his works in this location, enjoying the variety of wildlife that could be found in the area and the luxuries of big city living that were also offered. He worked from April to October in this studio until his death on October 21, 1959. The American National Museum of Wildlife art maintains the largest public collection of Rungius' works.