Animal

Animals are often featured in news, sometimes in heartwarming tales of human and animal companionship and other times in heartbreaking stories of illegal trade and endangered species. Animals are even present in social sciences, especially thank to ethology (behavioural sciences of animals in their natural habitat). They have fascinated philosophers from Antiquity all the way through to today and they are even present in the medical realm, as the benefits of animal-assisted therapies have been scientifically proven.

The relationship between humans and animals is also taken into account in the politics, most notably when debating topics related to ecology, the protection of ecosystems and sustainable development. Thus, animals might be seen as a crucial indicator of humanity's concerns.

As well in these many sectors, animals are also very much present in the arts. A number of art museums have decided exhibitions to animals including the Cluny Museum in Paris and MoMA PS1 in New York. Whether simply a humble spectator in an 18th century painting or the central subject of a Courbet painting, animals are present throughout the history of art. From symbolic, to esthetic, to abstract, to animal drawings meant to simply record their appearance...all these representations have played a role in influencing artists and also how we characterise and think of individual animals.

Each civilisation has represented the animal on multiples supports (mosaics, metal, stone, bones, etc.) as seen on the Nerja cave wall paintings in Andalusia discovered in 1925. Animal iconography has had multiple purposes, varying according to the era and place. Bats, for example, are often used to represent death, fear or superstition in Western art, whereas the Chinese see them as a sign of happiness. The omnipresence of animals within cultures across the globe is probably down to the similarities between men and animal, a source of both fascination and fear.

In this selection, Artsper helps you to discover the beauty of the animal kingdom, its diversity, strength and fragility. Artists depict animals in a huge range of mediums: sculpture, painting, photographs, and drawings. Contemporary artists bring an original and poetic vision to their representations of the animals with whom we share our world.

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Subcategories

Animal

Unknown Territory

Hey Sunshine!

Night Fury

Dani

Duko

Poulpe

Notre Pioupiou Rose

Panda

Végetaniamals 9

Végetaniamals 12

Végetaniamals 3

Végetaniamals 6

Végetaniamals 4

Végetaniamals 10

Végetaniamals 8

Végetaniamals 13

Caballito de mar, caballito de rayas y una adorable raya

Weird Axolotl who eats weird things

Red Thread (a wounded branch)

The Hiding and Seeking of Thee and Me

Flamingo Feeding in Calm Waters

Maneki Neko Asian Tour 1

Maneki neko on the wall 2

Perruche-Pilea

Goeland-Chlorophytum

Corneille-Calathea

Faucon-Sindapsus

Le poids des yeux n°22

Cephalus

Goliathus

Big City Cat Yellow Gianni

Big City Cat Yellow Nino

Big City Cat Yellow Bruno

Big City Cat Yellow Zatti

Big City Cat Blue Joey

Big City Cat Blue Sammy

Big City Cat Blue Frank

Protection

Frivolous seriousness

Truffe et caviar

The Omega Wolf

Alpina

Liberation

Land Loha totem

Under Moonlight

Cat skull

The Psycho killer

The Precious Promise II

Parrot Paradise

Tention of Nymphes

Billet Luxe Queen Tom et Jerry

With a red dog

Equilibrium

Lovers under the moon

Nostalgia

Luxe Chat & Volupté 2

Million dollar kitty

Monopoly Godann Version

Luxe Chat & Volupté

Big Fish

Afternoon of a Sphinx

Billet Luxe Tom et Jerry

Miaou

Cat style

The Sky Chorus

Sous les Lois d'Athéna