African Elephant Art That Honors Nature's Masterpiece

Our African elephant art speaks to the largest land animal's fascinating beauty.

Plus, its attributes that humankind would do well to embrace.

Our pieces are more than just African art, they're a lesson in inspiration.

African Elephant Personality

John Donne, prolific sixteenth and seventeenth century English author and poet described...

The elephant as "nature's great masterpiece" (or more accurately "master-peece" in the spelling of yore).

Centuries later, this gentle giant would be proclaimed as:

Great in stature, great in goodness too, noble, peaceloving, placid and tolerant. Capable of deep devotion, unbelievable gentleness, unswerving loyalty and mysterious intelligence, the elephant is of being apart, a creature endowed with all man's better qualities on few of his part.

~ Daphne Sheldrick

Kenya-born Daphne Sheldrick was the Founder of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust...

The Trust was named for her husband David Sheldrick, a renowned naturalist.

And it has successfully rescued, hand reared and reintegrated orphaned baby elephants and rhinos into the wild for over three decades. 

Who am I to argue with these literary and conservationist giants?

Plus, since I was a kid, I've known that to be told you have the memory of an elephant is one of the highest levels of compliments that can be paid to you. 

In other words, you have a photographic memory...

You can remember events vividly, virtually permanently, down to the minutest details.

How's that even possible?

Artists Love These African Elephant Features

Obviously, it is difficult to capture the above non-tangible characteristics on art media. 

So in the elephant category of African wildlife art, the artists tend to concentrate on these physical features that make an elephant... well, an elephant:

• Its sheer size—it's a behemoth
• Large flappy ears
• A long trunk that is used to breathe, smell, drink, grab stuff and to trumpet
• A pair of tusks to protect the trunk, strip tree bark (a delicacy in the elephant world), dig, and fend off enemies
• Thick, wrinkly skin
• Four columnar legs.

The Spectrum Of African Elephant Art

African elephant art runs the gamut from paintings, sketches, and wooden statues. Let's look at each of these one by one.

African Elephant Paintings

Elephant paintings are by far the largest collection of this category art. Some of the African artist favorites are:

• Female elephants (also called cows)
• Bull elephants
• Elephant and calf
• Portraits and close ups focusing on the eyes, ears, trunk or feet
• Red elephants (that is elephants which have a "naturally" red pigmented coat)
• African elephant sunset paintings, including some spectacular silhouettes
• Big tuskers notably Ahmed and Satao. Each of Ahmed's humongous 3-meter (3.3-yard) tusks weighed an astonishing 67.2 kg (148 lb)... 

To put Ahmed's feat in perspective, elephant tusks generally weigh way less; 23 kg (50 lb) on average!

Ahmed's were three times the average! This catapulted him to super stardom and earned him 24/7 presidential protection.

African Elephant Portrait - Doe

This semi-abstract painting in subdued colors by Hoods Jjuuko evokes warm feeling towards Doe.

Artist: Hoods Jjuuko.

Authenticity: Signed "Jjuuko Hoods" in bottom right corner.

Materials: Acrylic painting on canvas.

Dimensions: 27.6 in x 35.4 in (70 cm x 90 cm)

Orientation: Portrait.

Description: semi-abstract portrait of the African elephant named Doe. 

The deliberate asymmetry—of the eyes, ears and tusks, for example—adds a sense of realism.

Doe is painted in muted rather than bright colors to highlight its worrying conservation status.

You see, the African elephant is listed as a CITES Appendix I species in most African countries.

This is environmental speak for animals and plants that are seriously endangered. 

This gentle giant's species is threatened with extinction due to relentless, senseless poaching for its ivory.

Price: US$ 1,500, inclusive of courier shipping and insurance.

Payment: Bank deposit.

Shipment: 2 business days after payment clears.

Ships from: Nairobi, Kenya.

Ships in a: Mailing tube.

Delivery: 7-14 days after shipment.

Discount Eligible? Yes. Buy any 2 pieces of artwork on this website together and get 5% off the cheaper one.

Elephant Herd At Mt. Kenya

This painting of a 10-elephant herd is an excellent choice if your African wildlife art collection is not complete without realism art of an elephant herd.

Artist: Nganga Ndeveni.

Authenticity: Signed "Ndeveni" in bottom right corner.

Materials: Acrylic painting on canvas.

Dimensions: 27.6 in x 35.4 in (77 cm x 27 cm)

Orientation: Landscape.

Description: This is part of the iconic African safari art collection—depicting the sights and sounds you can expect on a classic African safari (no synonym would do justice).

A large elephant herd is ambling across the savanna, which is itself dotted with acacia trees. 

You don't just get African elephant art...

A welcome bonus is the rendition of the majestic Mount Kenya with its characteristic jagged, snow dusted peaks on the horizon.

Birds with white plumage—pelicans, herons or egrets perhaps—gracefully take flight and further liven up the painting. 

Price: US$ 650, inclusive of courier shipping and insurance.

Payment: Bank deposit.

Shipment: 2 business days after payment clears.

Ships from: Nairobi, Kenya.

Ships in a: Mailing tube.

Delivery: 7-14 days after shipment.

Discount Eligible? Yes. Buy any 2 pieces of artwork on this website together and get 5% off the cheaper one.

African Wooden Elephant Statues

The African wooden elephant statues here are intricately hand carved from rosewood, jacaranda or my favorite, ebony.

Here is what you can expect to find:

• Female African elephant sets
• African elephant and calf collections
• African bull elephant sets
• Entire elephant herds which are led by a matriarch and have been masterfully carved from a single piece of wood.