Black Sphinx by Carl Brenders

 

"Painting this black leopard, I thought 'Black Sphinx' would be an appropriate title, because it reminded me so much of the Egyptian statue. In modern times, a sphinx still symbolizes someone who is difficult to see through, a mysterious person. Because of their dark colouring, black leopards look very mysterious indeed. They live in dark rainforests, where they are almost invisible. The black leopard is only a melanistic form of the leopard, most commonly found in India, Java and Malaysia. Leopards on the African continent are mostly orange-yellow with dark spots, a perfect camouflage in the more open savannah habitiat. Only the Ethiopian highlands have a population of African Black leopards." - Carl Brenders from his book "Pride of Place" (2007)

 

Print released in 1993