Swede Bruno Andreas Liljefors (1860-1939) broke inviolate rules. 

He did so because he could.  The irony is that critics told him he would never be remembered as a great artist if he built a body of work on portrayals of animals.  His paintings today, of course, are coveted by museums, well beyond financial reach of most collectors, and, though he observed nature in the 19th century, he is still at the head of a vanguard.

Early on, Liljefors was instructed that serious painters do not celebrate wildlife, especially predators stalking their prey, except within the context of religious allegory.  He demured, and he became one of the most influential "wildlife artists" at the dawn of the 20th century, though full appreciation for his mastery was later to arrive in North America.

Liljefors, a sportsman, executed exciting, now classic scenes of raptors hunting in flight, mustelids and foxes making kills, even household pets around his rural farmhouse making a meal out of songbirds and rodents.

Liljefors blended hyper-realism (before the camera became a tool) with a style of Impressionism practiced by his friend fellow countryman Anders Zorn (1860-1920).  (It was Liljefors who painted one of the most famous portraits of Zorn and Zorn, in turn, painted the portrait of Liljefors, above, in 1906.)

He devised unconventional approaches to composition and design and incorporated both the emerging influence of Art Nouveau and the ancient traditionals of Asia. He sometimes selected mixed odd colors.  He liberated creatures, otherwise rendered into static objects, and set them in motion enigmatically, almost as a challenge to those stuck in the idea of the noble pose.

Nature was not a stage for championing a certain religion but for contemplating mortality and searching for meaning.  Like Winslow Homer's last masterpiece, "Right and Left" portraying waterfowlers taking down a pair of ducks (the work hangs at the National Gallery of Art), Liljefors explored existential thoughs on canvas.

In this week's installment of Wildlife Art Journal magazine's Art Video Of The Week, enjoy a selection of Liljefors set to the music of Vivaldi.  Ask yourself this question:  Were you to encounter Liljefors' work today in a fine art gallery, not knowing who had created it, what would be your conclusion?