Long Distance Calling

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Long Distance Calling

African Bush Elephant
Acrylic on mahogany plywood, 27 x 28 in. (1997)

Long distance calling is a portrait of an African Bush Elephant moving slowly among the long grasses of a gently rolling plain. He is an old fellow, long in the tooth (so to speak) bearing the ravages of nature and the tears and scars of jostling with the guys.

It was discovered in the 1980s that elephants can communicate with low frequency rumblings. We didn’t know about these things because the frequencies are beneath the human thresholds of about 1,000 Hz, depending on the human.

These rumblings can be heard (felt might be a better description) over long distances, and seem to be used for anything from challenges to other bulls, or solicitations of romantic intentions.


This painting has been SOLD.
Please do not reproduce the images in this display.
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