Richard Friese was born December 15, 1854 of farming stock in the small rural German town of Gumbinnen. After graduating he was hired first as a clerk, then as a lithographer in Berlin. The employment enabled Friese to attend the Academy of Arts in Berlin. Friese became the premier wildlife painter of his era in Europe. His work was highly prized by hunters and museums, and he frequently was invited onto the royal estates to hunt and paint. His travels took him afield to Canada, Africa, Asia, Poland and the Arctic. Appointed Professor of Art at the Berlin Academy, he taught for many years and became a board member of many committees chairing arts organizations across Germany. In 1908 Friese traveled to North America to visit and hunt moose with famed big game artist Carl Rungius. Although conditions on the hunt were less comfortable than the royal hunts Friese was accustomed to, this expedition produced masterpieces such as his 1914 oil depicting moose, titled “Challenge.” Friese’s works are extremely rare and much sought after. One of the largest collections of Friese is in the Rijksmuseum Twente in Enschede, Holland. He was mentor to two other of the world’s greatest wildlife artists, Carl Rungius and Wilhelm Kuhnert, and received numerous awards, including a gold medal at the 1886 Paris Salon. Friese passed away in Berlin on June 29, 1918.