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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Battements... (Origami 2023)
Olivier Messas
Painting - 36 x 36 x 2 cm Painting - 14.2 x 14.2 x 0.8 inch
$702
My kitten is a rapper
Patrick Cornée
Sculpture - 26 x 20 x 12 cm Sculpture - 10.2 x 7.9 x 4.7 inch
$2,691
The Bear Wants you to Stop Fighting
Teppei Ikehila
Painting - 33 x 33 x 3 cm Painting - 13 x 13 x 1.2 inch
$702
The great escape... (Origami 2025)
Olivier Messas
Painting - 50 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,872
The Stronger of the Two
Sophie Verger
Sculpture - 26.5 x 48 x 15 cm Sculpture - 10.4 x 18.9 x 5.9 inch
$6,084
Paris, Place Vendôme Ritz
Chris Morin-Eitner
Print - 80 x 60 x 0.2 cm Print - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$211
“Brave Horse”
Menashe Kadishman
Painting - 80 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$3,950 $3,358
Soft-Eyed Sheep
Menashe Kadishman
Painting - 80 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$4,350 $3,698
Gentle Sheep
Menashe Kadishman
Painting - 80 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$4,150 $3,528
35cm CD Collage Tribute, No Collar Teddy
Naor
Sculpture - 35 x 25 x 28 cm Sculpture - 13.8 x 9.8 x 11 inch
$760
Climate Clash - (Cream)
Shepard Fairey (Obey)
Print - 60.96 x 60.96 x 0.2 cm Print - 24 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$585
Cloned Bouly with shoes
William Sweetlove
Sculpture - 29 x 35 x 15 cm Sculpture - 11.4 x 13.8 x 5.9 inch
$1,638
Cloned Bloodhound with Backpack
William Sweetlove
Sculpture - 57 x 30 x 37 cm Sculpture - 22.4 x 11.8 x 14.6 inch
$2,574
Psst! I am Coming!
Yasna Godovanik
Painting - 60 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,053
Jungle Paradise
Yasna Godovanik
Painting - 110 x 90 x 2 cm Painting - 43.3 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,462 $848
A Little Floral Garden
Yasna Godovanik
Painting - 100 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$1,579 $916
Majestic Lion Sculpture
Dervis Akdemir
Sculpture - 50 x 79 x 43 cm Sculpture - 19.7 x 31.1 x 16.9 inch
$710
Sans titre, Bajo el mismo mar serie
Baptiste Laurent
Fine Art Drawings - 30 x 40 x 0.3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$936
Le furet dans l'ombre des bois
Sébastien Nadin
Painting - 118 x 84 x 1 cm Painting - 46.5 x 33.1 x 0.4 inch
$3,276
35cm CH Tribute, Full Black Teddy
Naor
Sculpture - 35 x 28 x 25 cm Sculpture - 13.8 x 11 x 9.8 inch
$760
PRINTEMPS POUR LES POISSONS
Sophie Petetin
Painting - 55 x 46 x 2 cm Painting - 21.7 x 18.1 x 0.8 inch
$930
Whimsical Whiskers
Dervis Akdemir
Painting - 50 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,252
The Horse that Wanted Revenge on the Stag
Salvador Dali
Print - 59 x 79 x 0.1 cm Print - 23.2 x 31.1 x 0 inch
$1,579
Pop Butterfly #2
Priscilla Vettese
Sculpture - 20 x 20 x 17 cm Sculpture - 7.9 x 7.9 x 6.7 inch
$608
La vie est belle
Tarek
Fine Art Drawings - 37.5 x 23.4 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 14.8 x 9.2 x 0 inch
$643
The Soaring of Spirit
Karen Akhikyan
Sculpture - 39 x 18 x 23 cm Sculpture - 15.4 x 7.1 x 9.1 inch
$1,200
N° 1240 Lac de Tibériade. Do-Beïtenou.
R. Cavalié
Painting - 55 x 46 x 2 cm Painting - 21.7 x 18.1 x 0.8 inch
$632
Modern Borrowed Scenery Lawson
Teppei Ikehila
Painting - 33 x 33 x 3 cm Painting - 13 x 13 x 1.2 inch
$585
Nu abstrait N°23 - Monstera palace Pièce N°6
Aurélie Trabaud
Painting - 45.5 x 29.5 x 0.1 cm Painting - 17.9 x 11.6 x 0 inch
$796
Piaf Black Supreme
Valerie Marty
Sculpture - 16 x 8 x 10 cm Sculpture - 6.3 x 3.1 x 3.9 inch
$643 $548
Cheval impressionniste
Martín Duque
Sculpture - 28 x 38 x 15 cm Sculpture - 11 x 15 x 5.9 inch
$1,568
A plate, from Les Songes drolatiques de Pantagruel
Salvador Dali
Print - 76 x 56 x 0.1 cm Print - 29.9 x 22 x 0 inch
$4,306