This Portrait of a Man from East Africa, likely a local chief painted by Wilhelm Kuhnert during his first trip to Africa, exudes a confident attitude and exceptional dignity. It is a powerful testament to Kuhnert’s genuine and unidealised approach to his subjects. Unlike the romanticised and often exoticised portrayals typical of the Orientalist movement, Kuhnert applies the same direct, observational gaze to his human sitters as he does to the natural world.

His sensitive and inquisitive eye captures the authenticity of the individual, free from the conventions or artistic filters that might distance the viewer from the reality of the subject. Unsurprisingly, the boldness of this portrait made it a perfect choice to serve as the cover image for the extensive reportage of Kuhnert’s first expedition to Africa, published in 1894:

The two colour prints here reproduced, the head of an “African” after an oil study (the present painting, nda) and the “Arab from Cairo” after a watercolour, show how the artist has retained all of the qualities that brought him his first successes as a portrait painter - they both show that intimate understanding and characteristic of individuality that even those who have never seen the model are entitled to, or at least involuntarily cause them to, praise the picture for its striking resemblance.

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