Hunting Scene Prints

Hunting scenes celebrate the hunting of animals, a tradition deeply rooted within many cultures. From mythological scenes to English fox hunts to Native American hunting practices, artists have celebrated these rituals in art, including printmaking.

Scenes of captured prey, whether seen in the action of hunting or the resulting nourishment for the community and family, were popular in Renaissance-era Dutch genre scenes. Artists favored engraving, etching, and woodcuts because of the superior level of detail that could be achieved. In the 20th century, artists such as Sir Peter Markham Scott and Leroy Neiman produced sporting themed art for a strong niche market.

Neiman is one of the most prolific 20th-century American sporting artists, celebrating horse racing to fox and hound hunting in a variety of modalities. In contrast to the highly detailed woodcuts and engravings of the 1500s and 1600s, Neiman's art was looser and more impressionistic.

Quick Facts

• At a young age, the American Impressionist artist Frank Benson was interested in working as a wildlife illustrator. His etchings often took the waterfowl that he grew up hunting as a subject
• Sir Peter Markham Scott, though an avid huntsman, was active in wildlife conservation. He illustrated travel and wildlife books to educate the public in order to sustain these conservational activities for future generations
• Lionel Edwards, a 20th-century British artist who grew up enjoying the fox hunting tradition, was an illustrator for various books on the subject. His most well known illustrations were for the popular Black Beauty books