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.

Search by Image

Save your search and find it in your favorites

19/100 1 10 17 18 19 20 21 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Categories

Subcategories

Animal

Manège

Canevas

Blue Kristy

Billet Luxe Queen Tom et Jerry

Mother and daughter

Beast #1

Tropical twins

Peluche Décousue

Le Lion

Entre nous IV

Entre nous V

Dog Mr.hope

Barb Wire Dove

Danse céleste

Eléphant

Crocodile : rêve reptilien

Petit Taureau

La redécouverte de l’univers par les corneilles

Peyote Coyote

S'envoler

Poisson

Surrexerunt

Giraffe

Dog

Carantin and cat

Hunter

The vet (and the darkest one)

Red-berry Girl (with Grace)

Evening

The Night

Ours Mondrian Brillant Equilibre Pop Art 85cm Co. N°2

A people’s history (Riel)

The Martyrdom of St. Anne

Martyrdom of the great one

People's history (Indian Home)

Maples and Birches with Winnie the Pooh

Group of Seven Awkward Moments (The West Wind)

Group of Seven Awkward Moments (Grey Owl and Andhareo at Beaver Swamp)

Group of Seven Awkward Moments (Mirror Lake)

Group of seven awkward moments (Beavers and Woo at Tanoo)

Group of seven awkward moments (Byng Inlet)

Group of seven awkward moments (Early snow with Bob and Doug)

Group of seven awkward moments (northern lights)

Winter dancing horses (with accordian playing inseminator)

Woodsman (wood gatherer and amputator)

Tongue maker (and his habitués)

The blind conductor (of the phocomelia drum band)

Storm (mother and daughter)

Spot-face boy (chef and snake charmer)

Shaman's hut

Horse-head Girl (pathologist and pony entertainer)

Guard on the Edge (of the forest and the night)

Forest Ruin (with horse and deer)

Deity (on fire)

Equestrian (nutritionist)

Birdmen (ranch hands and members of the selection committee)

The cow and the stone

Mêlée de coqs blancs

Le roi sur son territoire

Dans ma bulle...

A contre courant

Chilka

Big horse

Droit dans les yeux

Oiseau vertical en jaune et bleu

Toni le gorille