Tension at Dawn
1984
oil, 23 3⁄4" x 47 5⁄8"

Females assume responsibility for the pride’s protein needs, not the big headed males. It is an iniquitous system, for invariably, after the females have made their kill, the “lordly” males will evict them to claim, yes, the lion’s share of the spoils. Most observers see the kill dominated by the male and, quite naturally, infer cause and effect. This morning, the wind blows directly at these two lions. Another female may be lurking in the tall grass upwind of the wildebeest herd. By now these ruminants are no longer grazing, but are alert, looking not at the true danger behind them, but toward a murky expanse of grass out of which blows a dangerous wind. Little by little, the wildebeest will retreat into the trap. Infinitesimally, these two will make good their approach, slinking lower and lower in the grass. The end, I propose, is a half hour away.