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Courtesy of the Jackson Hole Art Auction
Image: Courtesy of the Jackson Hole Art Auction
Moose-Fight
Courtesy of the Jackson Hole Art Auction

Moose-Fight

Alternate Title(s)
  • A Battle Between Bulls
  • Battling Moose
  • The Contest
  • Fighting Moose
Artist/Maker Carl Rungius United States, born Germany, 1869 - 1959
Date1905
MediumOil on Canvas
Dimensionsimage: 36 x 56 in. (91.4 x 142.2 cm)
Credit LineCollection of Lisa and Mark Roellig
Object numberCC.0011
ClassificationsPainting
Signed? 1
Inscribed? 1
Subject
Categorywildlife
Provenance(Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico); to Forbes Collection, 2000; (Jackson Hole Art Auction), September 18, 2010, sold post-auction; Private Collection
Description"Two bull moose are fighting in the foreground, the stronger one pressing the other down a river bank," from 1905 copyright registration form (Class I: Works of Art).
Cow moose looks on in the background.
Three moose total.
Curatorial Remarks
Copyright title/description: Moose-fight. Two bull moose are fighting in the foreground, the stronger one pressing the other down a river bank.
Copyright proprietor: Rungius, Carl, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Class I, XXc, no. 15140, Aug 10, 1905.

Rungius Studio Collection at Glenbow: Photograph #1, PA-1875-251; Photograph #2, PA-1875-251 / (detail).

Upon close examination, an earlier signature, with the swirl characteristic of pre-1906, is visible beneath the later signature, which features the slash Rungius adopted mid-way through 1906. Rungiius used a photograph of the early version of this painting in reproductions (see bibliography and platinum print). The revised version of the painting features subtle differences, particularly notable in the bristling fur on the attacking bull moose's shoulder and in the vegetation behind the new signature.

Another example of this revised signature occurs in CC.0018, After the Storm (early version) and JL2006.039, Wyoming Herd Bull (Defiance), revised version. 
Bibliography
Exhibitions
Courtesy of the Glenbow Museum
Carl Rungius
1905
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Carl Rungius
1905
Courtesy Private Collection
Carl Rungius
1902
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Carl Rungius
1908
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Carl Rungius
1905
Courtesy Glenbow Museum
Carl Rungius
1907
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Carl Rungius
1910
Courtesy Copley Fine Art Auctions
Carl Rungius
1908
ADH
Carl Rungius
1906
Sotheby's 1982 catalogue
Carl Rungius
1907
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Carl Rungius
1907