Josef Wolf (1820-1899)

Eagle Owl (Bubo maximus)
The Birds of Great Britain 1862-73 vol.1, pl.30
Australian Museum Research Library

The Hippopotamus
Josef Wolf. Zoological Sketches, London: Henry Graves, 1861, pl.27
Australian Museum Research Library

Josef Wolf was already a respected natural history artist when he moved to London in 1848. Gould admired Wolf and would have liked him on staff, but Wolf only contributed illustrations on a freelance basis for The Birds of Asia and The Birds of Great Britain.

The greatness of Wolf's animal art was in his ability to capture a moment of suspended action combined with sound physiological knowledge. He voiced his disappointment with some of the Richter and Hart lithographs of his originals, feeling that they were less lifelike, the backgrounds busy, and they were overcoloured.