Koningstijger bij bron

Koningstijger bij bron (Royal Tiger at a Spring) by Wilhelm Kuhnert, also from 1903, extends his African subject matter to the tiger — technically a South or Southeast Asian animal rather than African, suggesting Kuhnert drew on his broad knowledge of big cats studied across multiple expeditions and in European zoological collections. The tiger at water is one of the grand set pieces of wildlife painting, the animal's power momentarily stilled in a posture of wary drinking. The Rijksmuseum Twenthe acquired this work alongside the other Kuhnert canvases in its collection, forming a coherent grouping of his monumental animal studies.

Kuhnert captures the tiger's striped coat with meticulous attention to how the pattern wraps around the body's underlying musculature. The water's surface reflects both the animal and the surrounding foliage, and the interplay of wet light and dense shadow gives the scene a sense of tropical intensity.