Type: Original Dimensions per picture: 120 x 100 x 2 cm Painting surface: Acrylic on canvas Year: 2025 Material: Gesso, acrylic paints, varnish Information: The composition is based on a photographic template by Czech photographer Jiří Blaha.
Description
The work shows a portrait of the polar bear Tom, whose depiction is based on a photographic template by Czech photographer Jiří Bláha. Tom lived in the Prague Zoo and was a frequently and gladly photographed animal there.
After his transport to the Almaty Zoo (Kazakhstan), Tom died there on May 4, 2024. The circumstances of his transfer and his early death retrospectively lend the work a documentary and commemorative dimension that goes beyond a mere animal depiction.
The painting is thus also understood as a silent tribute to an individual life. Such a classification took place, among others, as part of the 77th Great Swabian Art Exhibition in the Kunsthalle Augsburg at the end of 2025 / beginning of 2026.
In the broader context, the work addresses the relationship between humans, animals and attitudes in dealing with wild animals in human care – as well as the fragility of individual life stories that are preserved in the image.
