DAVID SHEPHERD | Masters of Tsavo
61 x 111 cms / 24 x 43¾ inches
Oil on canvas
Signed David Shepherd (lower right)
David Shepherd’s Masters of Tsavo (1989) portrays three bull elephants with striking presence, set against the ochre dust of Kenya’s Tsavo National Park. Painted with Shepherd’s hallmark precision and empathy, the work reflects his lifelong devotion to elephants and conservation. A defining piece of his career, it unites art and activism, standing as both a tribute to Africa’s giants and a call to protect them.
David Shepherd presents three towering bull elephants with the majesty and reverence of portraiture. Painted in 1989, Masters of Tsavo is a powerful tribute to the African giants that captured Shepherd’s imagination from the earliest days of his career and whose fate would define much of his life’s work.
Set against the ochre dust and heat-hazed horizon of Kenya’s Tsavo National Park, the central bull stands dominant. Its ivory tusks gleaming, its gaze unflinching. Flanking him are two companions, each rendered with arresting detail. Their wrinkled skin, heavy limbs and weathered presence are painted with Shepherd’s trademark precision. Yet beyond accuracy lies something deeper: empathy. These are not generic symbols of wilderness, but individual creatures, observed and honoured.
Tsavo, with its red earth and expansive skies, held special significance for Shepherd. It was there, as a young artist, that he first encountered elephants in the wild, an experience he described as transformative. He later called Tsavo “the finest place to see the African elephant,” and returned often, both in person and in paint.
By the time Masters of Tsavo was completed, Shepherd had become one of the most recognised wildlife painters of his generation. In 1984, he founded the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, channelling the success of his art into conservation. This painting, poised between artistry and activism, stands as one of his most iconic compositions. It is a majestic salute to a vanishing world and a plea to protect it.
