Artworks

All artworks

Artists

All artists

Galeries

All galleries

Categories

Subcategories

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.

Read more

Save your search and find it in your favorites

Saved search

Your search is accessible from the favorites tab > My favorite searches

Unsaved search

A problem occurred

Painting, Swoon Song, Hunt Slonem

Swoon Song

Hunt Slonem

Painting - 153 x 178 x 4 cm Painting - 60.2 x 70.1 x 1.6 inch

$80,468

Sculpture, Teddy CH Tribute, Naor

Teddy CH Tribute

Naor

Sculpture - 35 x 25 x 28 cm Sculpture - 13.8 x 9.8 x 11 inch

$775

Print, La Poule, Marc Chagall

La Poule

Marc Chagall

Print - 48 x 34 x 0.1 cm Print - 18.9 x 13.4 x 0 inch

$1,216

Sculpture, Horse, Richard Orlinski

Horse

Richard Orlinski

Sculpture - 190 x 80 x 100 cm Sculpture - 74.8 x 31.5 x 39.4 inch

$190,000

Sculpture, Panda Love, Shelby

Panda Love

Shelby

Sculpture - 51 x 35 x 40 cm Sculpture - 20.1 x 13.8 x 15.7 inch

$2,146

Print, Procris, Georges Braque

Procris

Georges Braque

Print - 38 x 56 x 0.05 cm Print - 15 x 22 x 0 inch

$1,073

Sculpture, Munny Cameleon, Onemizer

Munny Cameleon

Onemizer

Sculpture - 45 x 40 x 30 cm Sculpture - 17.7 x 15.7 x 11.8 inch

$5,841

Print, Tuileries, Fin DAC

Tuileries

Fin DAC

Print - 64 x 43 x 0.1 cm Print - 25.2 x 16.9 x 0 inch

$1,133

Painting, Cookie, Liubou Sas

Cookie

Liubou Sas

Painting - 50 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch

$894

Print, Paris, M.Chat

Paris

M.Chat

Print - 70 x 50 cm Print - 27.6 x 19.7 inch

$584

Sculpture, Quickly, Sophie Verger

Quickly

Sophie Verger

Sculpture - 13 x 15 x 7 cm Sculpture - 5.1 x 5.9 x 2.8 inch

$1,907

Fine Art Drawings, Untitled 260, Tarek Butayhi

Untitled 260

Tarek Butayhi

Fine Art Drawings - 21 x 30 cm Fine Art Drawings - 8.3 x 11.8 inch

$700

25/100