No ‘little’ price for this larger than life buffalo
A DOUBLE life-sized bronze sculpture by South African-born artist, Bruce Little, dubbed “The Million Dollar Buffalo” will go on auction in the Northern Cape next month.
While the sculpture, entitled “The Beast” was inspired by Mystery 2, a buffalo that was at the time of its sale the most expensive ever in South African history, the sculptor, Little, made numerous artistic adjustments to reflect what is believed to be very close to the perfect Buffalo, appealing to all Buffalo lovers.
Little sculpted “The Beast” over a period of two years, however numerous other pieces were sculpted at the same time. If he had focused solely on this piece it would have taken between four to six months to complete.
Born in South Africa, Bruce developed an early passion for the African wilderness through his childhood spent in the bushveld. He became a conservationist and professional game ranger, working at several famous private game reserves.
The 20 years he spent in the wilderness has given Little invaluable insight into his subjects he holds so dear. For the past 19 years he has worked on sculpting his subjects by focusing less on strict anatomical correctness but more on capturing the deeper meaning of the animals he observes.
Little says “it is natural for every artist to grow and evolve in one’s artistic journey” and as a result he has started sculpting a series of pieces with a contemporary aspect, which he feels portrays the animals in a different light but still encompasses the essence of the animal’s surroundings, spirit and behaviour. In addition, he has added a human element to his works where he attempts to portray a deep indelible bond that we as humans have with the earth and nature.
Little, whose sculptures range from miniatures to life size and larger, has exhibited internationally for the last 11 years with his bronzes in collections on all five continents as limited editions and private commissions. He is now a full-time sculptor living in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Instinctual
Self-taught, instinctual, Little sculpts to capture the spirit of the wild African creatures he has observed and guarded for most of his life. His technique captures the essential movement and attitudes of his subjects. In his years working on reserves in SA, he spent many hours observing buffalo and every aspect of their behaviour. This gave him valuable insight into the animals that are often not truly understood and has always wanted to depict the presence, power and attitude that a buffalo bull commands. This resulted in Bruce undertaking the task of sculpting a double life-size bust of a magnificent buffalo bull in his prime.
The choice to sculpt the piece double life-size was made for two reasons, firstly to show that he was capable of sculpting large to monumental pieces and secondly he felt that this scale would add to the overall impact of the piece. According to Little, the difficulties in sculpting a piece of this scale, when compared to conventional sized sculptures, was keeping proportions correct. However with some careful planning and measurements, this was achieved.
All of Little’s sculptures are cast by specialist foundries, in bronze, using the ‘Lost Wax’ method.
The Beast will be on auction at the Kriek Wildlife Group auction at Mattanu Private game Reserve on April 22, 2017.
Jacques Kriek, from Mattanu Private Game Reserve, yesterday described the sculpture as a huge, unique piece of art that is sure to grow in value, with the artist, Little, fast gaining popularity and making an indelible name for himself in art circles, especially abroad.
While Kriek did not want to speculate on the selling price of ‘The Beast’ he did say that another sculpture by Little, a monumental-sized lion, was auctioned off at the Leonardo Dicaprio Foundation Gala last year, where the piece received $ 1 million.