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.
Fernand Léger
Print . 48 x 34 x 0.5 cm Print . 18.9 x 13.4 x 0.2 inch
CHFÂ 773
Recommended by Artsper
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography . 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography . 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
CHFÂ 2,531
Recommended by Artsper
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography . 100 x 100 x 3.5 cm Photography . 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.4 inch
CHFÂ 3,516
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography . 91 x 91 x 0.1 cm Photography . 35.8 x 35.8 x 0 inch
CHFÂ 1,425
Recommended by Artsper
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography . 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography . 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
CHFÂ 2,531
Recommended by Artsper
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography . 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography . 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
CHFÂ 2,531
Recommended by Artsper
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography . 120 x 84 x 0.1 cm Photography . 47.2 x 33.1 x 0 inch
CHFÂ 2,531
Recommended by Artsper
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography . 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography . 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
CHFÂ 2,531
Recommended by Artsper
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography . 100 x 100 x 3.5 cm Photography . 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.4 inch
CHFÂ 3,516
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography . 115 x 85 x 3.5 cm Photography . 45.3 x 33.5 x 1.4 inch
CHFÂ 3,516
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography . 120 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography . 47.2 x 35.4 x 0 inch
CHFÂ 2,531
Recommended by Artsper
Michael James O'Brien
Photography . 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography . 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
CHFÂ 4,307
Recommended by Artsper
Michael James O'Brien
Photography . 203.2 x 152.4 x 0.3 cm Photography . 80 x 60 x 0.1 inch
CHFÂ 12,920
Michael James O'Brien
Photography . 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography . 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
CHFÂ 4,307
Recommended by Artsper
Michael James O'Brien
Photography . 152.4 x 101.6 x 0.3 cm Photography . 60 x 40 x 0.1 inch
CHFÂ 6,891
Recommended by Artsper
Michael James O'Brien
Photography . 40.6 x 101.6 x 0.3 cm Photography . 16 x 40 x 0.1 inch
CHFÂ 4,307
Michael James O'Brien
Photography . 76.2 x 101.6 x 0.3 cm Photography . 30 x 40 x 0.1 inch
CHFÂ 4,307
Michael James O'Brien
Photography . 76.2 x 101.6 x 0.3 cm Photography . 30 x 40 x 0.1 inch
CHFÂ 4,307
Viet Ha Tran
Photography . 60 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography . 23.6 x 23.6 x 0 inch
CHFÂ 1,739
Recommended by Artsper
Viet Ha Tran
Photography . 80 x 59.9 x 0.3 cm Photography . 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
CHFÂ 1,034
Recommended by Artsper
Viet Ha Tran
Photography . 89.9 x 59.9 x 0.3 cm Photography . 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
CHFÂ 1,206
Recommended by Artsper
Viet Ha Tran
Photography . 59.9 x 45 x 0.3 cm Photography . 23.6 x 17.7 x 0.1 inch
CHFÂ 947
Recommended by Artsper
Viet Ha Tran
Photography . 59.9 x 45 x 0.3 cm Photography . 23.6 x 17.7 x 0.1 inch
CHFÂ 947
Recommended by Artsper
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Photography . 64 x 98 cm Photography . 25.2 x 38.6 inch
CHFÂ 628
Recommended by Artsper
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Photography . 50 x 70 x 0.2 cm Photography . 19.7 x 27.6 x 0.1 inch
CHFÂ 4,347
Recommended by Artsper
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Photography . 99 x 77 x 2 cm Photography . 39 x 30.3 x 0.8 inch
CHFÂ 6,665
Recommended by Artsper
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Photography . 66 x 98 x 0.5 cm Photography . 26 x 38.6 x 0.2 inch
CHFÂ 9,660
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Print . 48 x 68 x 2 cm Print . 18.9 x 26.8 x 0.8 inch
CHFÂ 4,830
Recommended by Artsper
Ken Heyman
Photography . 27.9 x 35.6 x 1.3 cm Photography . 11 x 14 x 0.5 inch
CHFÂ 4,134
Recommended by Artsper
Ken Heyman
Photography . 27.9 x 35.6 x 1.3 cm Photography . 11 x 14 x 0.5 inch
CHFÂ 4,134
Recommended by Artsper
Javier Rey
Photography . 50 x 39 x 0.3 cm Photography . 19.7 x 15.4 x 0.1 inch
CHFÂ 775
Recommended by Artsper
Javier Rey
Photography . 75 x 55 x 0.3 cm Photography . 29.5 x 21.7 x 0.1 inch
CHFÂ 1,047
Recommended by Artsper
Javier Rey
Photography . 73 x 110 x 0.3 cm Photography . 28.7 x 43.3 x 0.1 inch
CHFÂ 1,249
Recommended by Artsper
Javier Rey
Photography . 80 x 46 x 0.1 cm Photography . 31.5 x 18.1 x 0 inch
CHFÂ 1,120
Recommended by Artsper
Javier Rey
Photography . 70 x 46.5 x 0.3 cm Photography . 27.6 x 18.3 x 0.1 inch
CHFÂ 991
Recommended by Artsper
Javier Rey
Photography . 75 x 55 x 0.3 cm Photography . 29.5 x 21.7 x 0.1 inch
CHFÂ 1,047
Recommended by Artsper
Javier Rey
Photography . 58.5 x 80 x 0.3 cm Photography . 23 x 31.5 x 0.1 inch
CHFÂ 1,047
Recommended by Artsper
Amrita Bilimoria
Photography . 45.7 x 34.8 x 0.5 cm Photography . 18 x 13.7 x 0.2 inch
CHFÂ 1,378
Recommended by Artsper
Amrita Bilimoria
Photography . 55.9 x 94 x 0.5 cm Photography . 22 x 37 x 0.2 inch
CHFÂ 1,895
Recommended by Artsper
Jean-Guy Nakars
Photography . 40 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography . 15.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
CHFÂ 434
Recommended by Artsper
Jean-Guy Nakars
Photography . 90 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography . 35.4 x 23.6 x 0 inch
CHFÂ 540
Recommended by Artsper
Jean-Guy Nakars
Photography . 20 x 37.5 x 0.1 cm Photography . 7.9 x 14.8 x 0 inch
CHFÂ 501
Recommended by Artsper
Clara Delaporte
Photography . 80 x 60 x 2 cm Photography . 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
CHFÂ 2,029
Recommended by Artsper
