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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Black birds, bright bird
Gabrielle Rul
Painting - 56 x 49 x 0.1 cm Painting - 22 x 19.3 x 0 inch
$961
Scène de corrida
Yves Brayer
Fine Art Drawings - 24.4 x 31.3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 9.6 x 12.3 inch
$715
Cloned Schnauzer with water bottle
William Sweetlove
Sculpture - 40 x 55 x 23 cm Sculpture - 15.7 x 21.7 x 9.1 inch
$894
Cloned Schnauzer with water bottle
William Sweetlove
Sculpture - 40 x 55 x 23 cm Sculpture - 15.7 x 21.7 x 9.1 inch
$894
Metamorphosis
Carlos Antonio Sablon Perez
Painting - 22 x 16 x 2 cm Painting - 8.7 x 6.3 x 0.8 inch
$715
Tête de Cheval
Carlos Antonio Sablon Perez
Painting - 22 x 16 x 2 cm Painting - 8.7 x 6.3 x 0.8 inch
$715
Wild Kong baril tag mate
Richard Orlinski
Sculpture - 45 x 25 x 13 cm Sculpture - 17.7 x 9.8 x 5.1 inch
$15,378
Panthère taguée mate
Richard Orlinski
Sculpture - 27 x 55 x 14 cm Sculpture - 10.6 x 21.7 x 5.5 inch
$20,147
Wild Kong tag brillant
Richard Orlinski
Sculpture - 37 x 28 x 15 cm Sculpture - 14.6 x 11 x 5.9 inch
$13,590
Six elephants and a girl
Sophie Verger
Sculpture - 124 x 58 x 22 cm Sculpture - 48.8 x 22.8 x 8.7 inch
$34,572
Les reflets bleus... (Origami 2025)
Olivier Messas
Painting - 26 x 26 x 5 cm Painting - 10.2 x 10.2 x 2 inch
$477
Mirror panther on black
Nataliia Krykun
Painting - 30 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$941
Les oiseaux dans la neige
Christian Silvain
Painting - 80 x 70 x 8 cm Painting - 31.5 x 27.6 x 3.1 inch
$11,921
Scarface - The World is Yours - Tony Montana - Silver Edition
Belart Collective
Print - 101 x 77 x 4 cm Print - 39.8 x 30.3 x 1.6 inch
$2,968
Grace and Power Under Pressure (Blue)
Shepard Fairey (Obey)
Print - 46 x 61 x 0.5 cm Print - 18.1 x 24 x 0.2 inch
$536
Cloned Schnauzer with water bottle
William Sweetlove
Sculpture - 40 x 55 x 23 cm Sculpture - 15.7 x 21.7 x 9.1 inch
$894
Nature Collection No. 3
Elizabeth Becker
Painting - 76.2 x 57.2 x 0.3 cm Painting - 30 x 22.5 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Pikachu résine tag 40 cm
Richard Orlinski
Sculpture - 40 x 35 x 21 cm Sculpture - 15.7 x 13.8 x 8.3 inch
$16,690
BIche en automne
Christine Guillemin
Sculpture - 26 x 27 x 12 cm Sculpture - 10.2 x 10.6 x 4.7 inch
$5,722
Crocodile EA III/IV
Richard Orlinski
Sculpture - 30 x 70 x 30 cm Sculpture - 11.8 x 27.6 x 11.8 inch
$40,532
Blue Spider
Richard Orlinski
Sculpture - 40 x 60 x 48 cm Sculpture - 15.7 x 23.6 x 18.9 inch
$14,544
Walking Crystal Clear Wild Bear
Richard Orlinski
Sculpture - 25 x 70 x 33 cm Sculpture - 9.8 x 27.6 x 13 inch
$49,116
Walking Silver Wild Bear
Richard Orlinski
Sculpture - 50 x 120 x 45 cm Sculpture - 19.7 x 47.2 x 17.7 inch
$95,966
Hippopotamus
Richard Orlinski
Sculpture - 41 x 55 x 23 cm Sculpture - 16.1 x 21.7 x 9.1 inch
$17,703
Red Hippopotamus
Richard Orlinski
Sculpture - 25 x 40 x 15 cm Sculpture - 9.8 x 15.7 x 5.9 inch
$8,643
Silver Crocodile
Richard Orlinski
Sculpture - 45 x 110 x 45 cm Sculpture - 17.7 x 43.3 x 17.7 inch
$75,104
Silver Horse
Richard Orlinski
Sculpture - 70 x 17 x 50 cm Sculpture - 27.6 x 6.7 x 19.7 inch
$56,030
Léopard au repos
Patrick Villas
Sculpture - 40 x 113 x 37 cm Sculpture - 15.7 x 44.5 x 14.6 inch
$33,380
Chasse de nuit d'après Pablo Uccello
Artiste Ouvrier
Painting - 40 x 100 x 4 cm Painting - 15.7 x 39.4 x 1.6 inch
$2,384
Still life with fish
Anatoly Tarabanov
Painting - 60 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$602
Still life with a parrot
Anatoly Tarabanov
Painting - 60 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$602
Cocoon of Comfort, The Joy Series: A Journey to Inner Happiness original artwork
Tetiana Pchelnykova
Painting - 90 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 35.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,454
Freedom... (Origami 2024)
Olivier Messas
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2.5 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1 inch
$4,292
La petite fille et son chien
Zafi
Painting - 100 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
$5,961
Me and My Rhinoceros
Sophie Verger
Sculpture - 7.5 x 16.5 x 4.5 cm Sculpture - 3 x 6.5 x 1.8 inch
$1,788
Macaws Studio Study
Hunt Slonem
Painting - 101.6 x 101.6 x 2 cm Painting - 40 x 40 x 0.8 inch
$39,936
Kong Christmas Gold Edition
Richard Orlinski
Design - 19 x 13.5 x 6 cm Design - 7.5 x 5.3 x 2.4 inch
$595
The Messenger Between Worlds
Sephora Venites
Print - 114.3 x 83.8 x 0.3 cm Print - 45 x 33 x 0.1 inch
$2,897
Little Louise and her elephant version 2
Sophie Verger
Sculpture - 7.5 x 11.5 x 5.3 cm Sculpture - 3 x 4.5 x 2.1 inch
$1,311
Rider of the Storm
Mateos Sargsyan
Painting - 70 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,500
Dans la savane / On the savannah
Sophie Verger
Sculpture - 13.5 x 52 x 8.5 cm Sculpture - 5.3 x 20.5 x 3.3 inch
$4,888
