Vechtende wisentstieren in het woud van Bialowieza

This 1903 Kuhnert depicts fighting European bison (wisent) bulls in the Białowieża Forest — the primeval forest straddling the modern Polish-Belarusian border that then functioned as a Russian imperial hunting reserve. The European bison were present in Białowieża in substantial numbers in 1903, though the species would be nearly exterminated during the First World War. Kuhnert's painting inadvertently contributes to the historical record of a species at a moment before its near-extinction. The power and drama of fighting bulls gave Kuhnert an ideal subject for his specialty of dynamic animal painting. The work is in the Rijksmuseum Twenthe.

The two bison are captured mid-combat, their massive bodies locked in a confrontation that conveys immense physical force. Kuhnert renders the animals' heavy, shaggy coats with directional strokes that communicate texture. The forest setting is broadly painted to keep focus on the animal drama. The palette is warm and earthy.