Carl Rungius

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameCarl Clemens Moritz•Rungius
Used nameCarl•Rungius
Born18 August 1869 in Rixdorf, Berlin (GER) 
Died21 October 1959 in New York, New York (USA)
NOC United States

Biography

Carl Rungius studied at the Berlin Art Academy from 1888-90, and then frequently sketched animals at the zoo. His dedication to painting animals with anatomical accuracy was coupled with his determination to learn and paint each animal’s mannerisms and habitat, which made Rungius a well-respected wildlife artist.

Rungius traveled to the USA for the first time in 1894 and got to know the nature and fauna of the American West in Wyoming. He eventually emigrated to the United States in 1896, where he painted and hunted western big game animals, including moose, pronghorn and bighorn sheep in the Rocky Mountains, and he completed these paintings during the long New York winters. Equally accomplished as a painter of wildlife and landscapes, Rungius quickly developed an enthusiastic following among fellow artists and patrons. Later he opened a second studio in Banff, Canada. With his realistic, sometimes romantically exaggerated pictures, Rungius also tried to promote nature conservation. One of his admirers and hunting companions was President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919).

The painting The Panic could be the painting Stampede, which literally translated means “panic escape”. However, this painting in oil on canvas (56 x 66 cm) was created in 1898 during his first years in the USA. It was donated to the National Museum of Wildlife Art around 2012. Slightly modified, the motif also exists as an etching. Wounded Moose was also painted by Rungius quite early (1901-04). It was then in the possession of George D. Pratt (1869-1935), who – like Rungius – was an environmentalist and hunter. The oil painting Survival of the Fittest (66 x 117 cm) from the collection of the National Museum of Wildlife Art, which also shows a wounded or dead moose in the foreground, was created in this period. Possibly the works are identical.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1928 Summer Olympics Art Competitions USA Carl Rungius
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC