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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Animal

Oiseau pirogue

Les Oiseaux de Feu

Mauka

Deeply connected

Carpet Moth 2

Jeune Cerf

Bird

Happy style

Série: Animaux - Tableau No 2

Taureau 5

Que reste-t-il ? III/IV

Black Leopard #2

Rabbit, Trasure-Trove

Aurum 6

Sculpture Chien Arty

Horse of Time

Monde Africa

Yayoi

L'ourse et ses deux oursons

Tiger graf'

Les copines

Roe Deer

Les suricates - Blue

Turtle Rolls-Royce

Reptile 2

Prenons nos rêves pour des réalités

Small dog - Bouledogue

RoboCat pink

Le poisson pirate

Fly#3

Two Panthers

Spring cat

Cheval vert II

Composition

An Unlikely Pair

Vol au Martin

Lady bird

Transition

Tête de Lion 3/8

Interior with vintage dresser

Dynamic goose

Le voleur de vin

This Eager Guy

Robe noir

Wild life 1

Takashi Murakami × ComplexCon Mr.DOB Figure by Bait × Switch Collectibles (Gold Edition)

Il était une fois dans l'ouest - série Bande dessinée

Lost in Thoughts

Teddy Silver (Medium)

A Lovely Serenade Of Summer

Cat Mechanimal (silver) AP

Blue tiger focus

Migrations - Portrait d'oiseaux et paysage imaginaire

Grandes vacances

Indomptable

Europe mythologie Femme

The Embrace of Whimsy

Cow on Red (L)

Chameau

Végas pop art star wars

L'éphémère en lumière

Chanoir x Reese

Blue Eagle

Vitale

Minimalist Cat & Bird Chase – Contemporary Abstract Oil Artwork

A Moment Of Rest