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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Subcategories

Animal

Jackdaw

Automne

Girls

Hommage à Terry Pratchett

Menteur

Black tiger

Dark horse bust

The problem with the wolf

Betta BW 44

Clash of Titans

Big Gold Pigeon 7/25

La mélodie du bonheur

L'heure bleue

Eva

Le lapin blanc

Elena

Louie Louie

Tierra coco

Signal Flare

Lava volcanica

Big Mahout

Elephant boat

Bembeleza

Colonne de lionceaux

De Bosse en Bosse

Bear in Kamchatka

Bear juggling fish

Promontory

Drum Shaman Bear

Four pizzlys

Les Nurses

Elephant in the garden

From one Trunk to the Other

The Sacred Boat

Bettle

At home

Coq, le 10 ème

Trois

Essence

Sacrifices made to the nymphs

Serpent, le 6 ème

Singe, le 9 ème

Untitled

Mouton, le 8 ème

Cheval, le 7 ème

Lapin, le 4 ème

Boeuf, le 2 ème

Rat, le 1 er

Duck Time

Stationnement interdit #1

Papillon psychédélique #1

Petit panda Pink

A way to freedom

Morning peace

Le chat et sa maitresse

Trio ours Keith Haring co n° 2

Trio ours Banksy bleu co n° 2

Coming through the rye

Fishes III

Sail with me

Betta Collage 11

Souvenirs de l'été (métal)

Surely I Will Fly - 21st Century

Sous le chapiteau

Ben en train de terrasser l’art dit contemporain

Dame Carcasse - série femme de Carcassonne