Erich Graf

Renowned Realist & Wildlife Artist

Erich Graf (born 1947 in Sulzbach-Rosenberg) is regarded as one of the most distinguished German representatives of wildlife and landscape painting. For more than four decades he has created richly detailed, atmospheric paintings that capture animals, nature and culture with striking precision.

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Biography

About Erich Graf

His work has been exhibited internationally, from Germany to the USA, and published in the renowned Wildlife Art Magazine, which counted him among the “world’s best animal painters” in 2025.

Collectors in Europe and overseas, including European royal houses, value his art, as do institutions and galleries.

His painting unites masterful technique, meticulous craftsmanship and a lively play of color: artworks that are collector’s pieces and documents of their time at once. Erich Graf works today in his studio in Poppenricht; his work is in demand internationally and is held in private and public collections.

Erich Graf is represented by Favori Media.

Exhibitions, Awards & Career Highlights

1947Born in Sulzbach-Rosenberg
2025Named among the “world’s best animal painters” by Wildlife Art Magazine
Exhibitions in Germany and the USA
2026FAVORI No. 1: Genesis, Schloss Gleina
CollectionsPrivate and public, in Europe and overseas, including European royal houses

Work groups

Between Realism and New Color

For more than four decades, Erich Graf has been regarded as one of the most distinguished German representatives of wildlife and landscape painting. His pictures combine close observation with masterful technique: fur, feathers, water and light are painted with great care, never slipping into the merely decorative.

In recent years, Graf has added a second language to his realist painting. Alongside the classic scene in the landscape come frontal animal portraits in luminous color, graphic bird pictures and quiet grisailles. Landscapes and cityscapes follow, in which light takes the leading role. His work therefore unfolds in three groups of works that show how a realist widens his view without leaving his origins behind.

Work group I · 13 works

Wilderness in Light

Realistic animal and landscape painting in oil

In this group of works, Erich Graf shows himself as the realist he is internationally known as. A grizzly and two bald eagles by a river in Alaska, a herd of elephants before Kilimanjaro, a lioness and a cheetah at full stride, a lynx in a snowy forest: every scene is closely observed and painted in oil with great craftsmanship.

Painting Erich Graf Scene in Alaska 2015 · Oil on canvas · 90 × 120 cm

4,880.00 €Certificate

Painting Erich Graf Elephants on Kilimanjaro 2021 · Oil on canvas · 80 × 100 cm

4,500.00 €Certificate

Painting Erich Graf Good View 2019 · Oil on canvas · 60 × 80 cm

2,440.00 €Certificate

View all 13 works in this group

Work group II · 15 works

The Animal as Counterpart

Modern animal portraits between color, surface and stillness

For some years now, Erich Graf has opened his realist painting to a new, contemporary language. The animals come close to the viewer, without landscape, without narrative. Lion, tiger, elephant and gorilla look straight at the viewer, koi glide through clear water, and color in turquoise, pink, yellow and neon breaks open around them.

Painting Erich Graf Lion modern 2024 · Acrylic on canvas · 90 × 120 cm

3,600.00 €Certificate

Painting Erich Graf Tiger modern 2024 · Acrylic on canvas · 90 × 120 cm

3,600.00 €Certificate

Painting Erich Graf Neon Tiger 2023 · Acrylic on canvas · 60 × 80 cm

2,700.00 €Certificate

View all 15 works in this group

Work group III · 8 works

Places and Seasons

Landscape, city and light in oil

This group of works shows Erich Graf without animals, but with the same attentiveness. A single tree in a summer meadow, a stream in autumn leaves, a snow-covered birch in the backlight of the winter sun, maple leaves against a blue sky: nature appears in the change of the seasons, closely observed and condensed in oil.