Manfred Schatz (1925-2004) was a wildlife artist who captured the energy and movement of living animals. He developed a distinctive motion-blur effect in his oil paintings, using large brushes to soften edges in the direction of movement.
He was born in 1925 in Stettin, Germany, and attended the Academy of Arts in Berlin before the age of 18. He was unable to escape the war and was drafted in the German army, fighting on the Russian front. He was taken prisoner in Russia and spent more than four years in a prison camp. He suffered from exhaustion, tuberculosis, and near starvation. After he was set free, he recuperated at a hunting preserve with his brother, a game warden. There he fell in love with nature and with observing the movement of animals. Though it may appear he was influenced by studying photographic effects, he primarily relied on his knowledge, memory, and imagination to convey fleeting impressions of the human observer.
He started exhibiting in 1953, and by the 1960s, his work began to win international awards.He said that his greatest influences were Anders Zorn and Bruno Liljefors.