Who do animal artists depict? Animalistic genre in fine arts

IN fine arts is perhaps the oldest in history. Our ancestors scraped out images of animals on the walls of their caves with sharp stones. Proof of this is in France.

Many centuries have passed since then. Painting, drawing and sculpture acquired rich history, and the animalistic genre is paintings famous artists Evidence of this is that it has become less popular. However, despite the emergence of new image objects, such as people, architecture, landscapes and much more, animalism has not ceased to be in demand both among artists and art lovers.

Animalistic genre in fine art: paintings depicting the animal world

Animalism is the depiction of animals on objects of art. This genre is not limited to drawing and painting, but is actively used in a number of other forms of art. Many artists and critics consider animalism to be the most universal genre in the world, since images of animals are characteristic of people of all eras and cultures.

Images of animals are also characteristic of works of art created in another genre. For example, famous painting Shishkin "Morning in pine forest" Shishkin is the greatest landscape painter in the history of Russian art, and Morning in a Pine Forest is without a doubt a landscape, but with elements of the animal genre. It is worth noting that Shishkin did not paint his famous bears; they were made by animal artist Konstantin Savitsky.

This practice was extremely popular among animal painters. For example, Frans Snyders is one of the most famous artists animalistic genre - often painted animals in Rubens's paintings. It is noteworthy that not all artists, even the most famous, could cope with the depiction of animals and birds.

History of the animal genre

The depiction of animals is the most ancient passion for which did not fade until the Renaissance and the centralization of the focus on man with his classical ideals. It is noteworthy that even in the era of classicism, animals were depicted on vases, mosaics and frescoes with enviable regularity.

Our early ancestors, scraping on stone walls From their crude homes, the figures of those animals hunted and those they fled from sought to systematize life and the environment, educate descendants, and pay tribute to nature. It is worth noting that the figures of animals were often depicted in much more detail than the figures of human hunters. This early animalism is usually called the animal style.

Later in culture ancient egypt, Mesopotamia, India and other regions, it was popular to depict deities in the form of animals or to deify the representatives of the fauna themselves. Thus, images of animals ended up on religious objects, tomb walls and jewelry.

Oddly enough, the animalistic genre in fine art began to accept modern features It was during the Renaissance - an era when painting was predominantly religious. Although it is worth noting that most genres took shape thanks to the Renaissance.

Animalistic genre: artists

The first representatives of the animalistic genre in art are chinese artist And Yuanji (early 11th century), famous for painting monkeys, and Chinese Emperor Xuande from (mid-15th century), who painted monkeys and dogs as a hobby.

In Renaissance Europe, the animalistic genre was developed by one of the greatest representatives of the Northern Renaissance, Albrecht Durer. While his contemporaries wrote religious subjects, Dürer actively studied flora and fauna; his watercolors, drawings and lithographs indicate that one of the pillars of Renaissance art was interested in the animalistic genre. Paintings by famous artists of that time rarely deviated from the accepted norms of painting, but even in the paintings of Leonardo and Raphael, animals and birds still appear, albeit rarely.

The most outstanding and famous animal artist is the Flemish painter Frans Snyders. He became especially famous for his still lifes of hunting trophies.

Animalism in painting

During the Renaissance, Baroque, classicism, romanticism and subsequent styles, animalism was never not only dominant, but even popular genre. However, talented animal artists could make a decent living by collaborating with other artists, such as Frans Snyders.

Aristocrats and the bourgeoisie, especially in England, commissioned images of leading horses at races or their favorites. Many portraits of the same Baroque era featured people with pets. In a military portrait it was necessary to depict leaders on horseback. Often, many aristocrats preferred to be depicted in portraits in the saddle. Animalistic genre in painting he was also popular with the bourgeoisie, especially for images of hunting and caught game.

Animalistic genre in sculpture

Images of animals in sculpture are very popular all over the world. From the "She-Wolf of the Capitol" and the "Lion of Brunswick" to " Bronze Horseman" and "Berlin Bear" - animal sculptures often become symbols of cities and historical events.

Especially among animal sculptors, Antoine-Louis Bari, who worked in the era of romanticism, stands out. His sculptures are distinguished by the drama and energy characteristic of romantics. Bari, however, was an extremely talented sculptor who studied in detail the anatomy and plasticity of animals. According to him, depicting an animal in motion requires special observation, because anatomy alone is not enough. Each animal has its own plasticity, manner of movement and characteristic habits that must be captured in order for the image to turn out natural.

Other types of animalism

The animalistic genre has not bypassed photography. Today, many professional photographers and talented amateurs pay attention to the natural beauty and strength of animals. This is especially true against the background modern problems environment and the desire of many people and organizations to pay attention to them and prevent possible disasters that threaten us with the loss of beautiful and fascinating species of animals such as the Amur tiger, panda, koala and western gorilla.

The main object of this genre of fine art is animals (from the Latin animal - animal).

This genre was widespread in ancient times: stylized images of animals are found in the art of the Ancient East, America, Africa, Oceania and folk art other countries.
Most often we see images of animals in painting, sculpture, graphics, decorative arts, and later in photography.
The animalistic genre can be divided into two directions: natural science and art. In the first case, it is important for the animal artist to accurately depict the animal from the point of view of its physiology, and in the second case - artistic characterization animal, including metaphor (transferring traits inherent in humans to animals). This mainly applies to illustrators of fairy tales and fables.

Animalism in painting

Frans Snyders (1579-1657)

Van Dyck "Portrait of Snyders with his wife" (detail of the portrait)
Flemish painter, master of still lifes and animal paintings. Initially, he painted still lifes, but then became interested in animal subjects and hunting scenes. His works amaze with their monumentality and thoughtfulness of compositions, masterly depiction of the physiology of the animal, its vitality and inner power.

F. Snyders "Boar Hunt" (1625-1630)

Paulus Potter (1625-1654)

Bartholomeus van der Helst "Portrait of Paulus Potter"
The Dutch artist Potter died very young, at the age of 29, but left a whole gallery of paintings with detailed images of domestic animals in meadows, paintings with hunting scenes.

P. Potter "Young Bull"

It was the images of animals that provided him with worldwide fame.
The artist’s most famous painting is “Young Bull”, it is located in the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague.

P. Potter “Horses in the Meadow” (1649)
Horses are the most popular character in animal paintings. But each artist has his own attitude towards this strong and noble animal.

George Stubbs (1724-1806)

D. Stubbs “Self-Portrait”

English artist and biologist, one of the leading European animal artists. He thoroughly studied the anatomy of humans and animals at the York Hospital. He is the author of several scientific works, including the work “Anatomy of Horses” (1766), therefore he could depict animals flawlessly from a scientific point of view.

D. Stubbs "Whistleyjacket" (1762)

Franz Marc (1880-1916)

German painter Jewish origin, representative of German expressionism. He volunteered for the front of the First World War and was killed by a shell fragment during the Verdun operation at the age of 36, leaving his creative plans unfulfilled.

F. Mark “Blue Horse” (1911)
He often depicted animals (deer, foxes, horses) in natural settings, presenting them as higher, pure beings. This is the romantic painting “The Blue Horse”. Mark's works are distinguished by a bright palette combined with cubist images, sharp and hard color transitions. His painting “The Fate of Animals” is most famous. It is currently on display in art museum Basel (Switzerland).

F. Mark “The Fate of Animals” (1913)
Animal world always attracts not only professional artists, but also children. IN children's world animals occupy no less space than humans.

Samira Sagitova (3 years 8 months) “Funny Chickens”

Jim Killen "Funny Puppies"

Animalism in sculpture

Pyotr Karlovich Klodt (1805-1867)

PC. Klodt
The family of the future sculptor came from the Baltic German aristocrats Klodt von Jurgensburg and consisted of hereditary military men. P. K. Klodt was born in 1805 in St. Petersburg, but he spent his childhood and youth in Omsk - his father served as chief of staff of the Separate Siberian Corps. There the baron's penchant for drawing, carving and sculpting manifested itself. Most of all, the boy loved to depict horses; he saw a special charm in them.

Narva triumphal gate
After graduating from the Academy of Arts, Klodt, together with other experienced sculptors, designed the Narva Gate, the palace pier of the Admiralty Embankment.

Klodt's horses in front of Berlin Castle
His works decorate both the main gate of the royal palace in Berlin and the royal palace in Naples. Copies of the sculptures are installed in gardens and palace buildings in Russia: in the vicinity of St. Petersburg (at the Oryol Palace in Strelna and Peterhof, as well as on the territory of the Golitsyn estate in Kuzminki near Moscow, the Kuzminki-Vlahernskoye estate).

Golitsyn estate in Kuzminka X

Evgeniy Alexandrovich Lanceray (1848-1886)

Russian animal sculptor. Just like Klodt, from childhood he chose a topic that he was passionate about all his life - horses.

E. Lansere “Circassian and a woman on a horse”
Lanceray was a famous animal painter who beautifully depicted horses, including in historical subjects. He was a master of narrative plastic miniatures, glorified the Russian sculptural school abroad, taking part in world exhibitions in London (1872), Paris (1873), Vienna (1873), Antwerp (1885) and other European cities. His works were cast at many leading factories and bronze foundries of private companies.

Animalism in graphics

Konstantin Konstantinovich Flerov (1904-1980)

Soviet paleontologist, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor. Head of the Paleontological Museum named after. Yu. A. Orlova. Reconstruction artist and animal painter, recreated the appearance of many fossil animals.

He studied at the biology department of Moscow University and at the same time was engaged in drawing and painting. After graduating from university, he worked for 30 years at the Zoological Institute in Leningrad. Participated in many trips and scientific expeditions.
While working at the Darwin Museum in Moscow, Flerov created a series of paintings and sculptures based on biological collections. The knowledge of a professional zoologist and a professional artist allowed him to successfully reconstruct from skeletons appearance animals, create their sculptural images and paint paintings on themes of the ancient world.

Animalism in photography

With the invention of photography, the possibilities of animal painters expanded significantly. The animal world appears in a huge variety of colors, subjects and species.
We bring to your attention two wonderful photographs by animal photographers from the site www.rosphoto.com

A. Gudkov “Giraffe and Bird”
There is so much love for animals in this photo and sense of humor! And also the ability to “seize the moment.”

S. Gorshkov “Fox”
Sergey Gorshkov is the winner of the Golden Turtle competition in the Photographer of the Year category in 2007 and 2011. Winner international competition Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2007, was awarded the Russian Photographer of the Year prize.
His photograph “Fox” amazes not only with its technique, but also with its psychological depth. Take a closer look at the photograph: the fox’s disposition, her caution, insinuation and cunning are captured brilliantly.

"Bumblebee". Photo by V. Akishina

Art: business or destiny?
Animalistics, - animalistic painting and animalistic drawing, -
despite others art projects, continues to remain
one of Marina Efremova’s favorite genres. And it’s no coincidence that exactly
animal art has become main theme interview "Pictorial Energy",
which journalist Olga Volkova took from Marina Efremova.

"Animal painting exhibition as an artistic and educational event"
Art critic Nikolai Efremov. Report at a scientific and practical conference,
dedicated to the 125th anniversary of Vasily Alekseevich Vatagin
(February 5, 2009 - State Tretyakov Gallery;
February 6, 2009 - State Darwin Museum)

Below are some animal paintings by Marina Efremova, painted in 1999-2010. Some of them are in private collections, some are in the artist’s collection.
Paintings with dogs: “Vaska the Basset Hound”, “Lying Yorkie”, “Portrait of the Yorkshire Terrier Lucky”, “White Guardian (Dogo Argentino)”, “Black Guardian (Rottweiler)”, “Yorkie Tofik”, “Yorkie Manya”, "Yorkie Chink", "Portrait of Timony", "Husky Team", "Mongrels", " Late fall", "Greyhounds in a field", "Portrait of a German Shepherd", "Pugs", "Portrait of a Rottweiler", "St. Bernard Vanessa", "Puppy with a hare", "Boxer Puppy", "Basset Hound Archie".
Paintings with cats: “Cat Timych”, “Cat Gray”, “Cat Zhulka”, “Cat Murash”, “Black Keeper of the Hearth”, “White Keeper of the Hearth”, “Red Cat”.
Paintings with horses: “Black Horse”, “Bay”.
Paintings with wild animals: “Portrait of a Gorilla”, “Waiting (Portrait of a Wolf)”, “Portrait of a Tiger”, “White Tiger”, “Old Wolf”, “Last Dash”, “Buffalo Head”, “Mandrill”, “Portrait of a Lioness” ", "Lion and Falcon", "Orangutan", "Black Jaguar", "Belek", "Fox", "Wolf", "Portrait of a Wolf".
Paintings with birds: “Eagle”, “Ibis”, “Blue-and-yellow macaw”, “Kafian horned raven”.

Back to the animalist again. I love. But I haven’t found my author yet. Or rather, I found it, but not fully... Modern animal painting, unfortunately, in the vast majority of cases is a direct copy from photographs. Absolutely without fantasy or imagination. Often, even the background is blurred, as in photographs from full-length professional SLR cameras. Artists do not even to a small extent use the limitless possibilities of painting in creating an original plot. At the same time, they receive world recognition...For what?...And for mastering the technique oil painting. For this, I bow to the masters... But I want more - dynamics and plot... You can understand when static photographic oil paintings are produced by newcomers to the art of painting, but when they are produced by recognized world-class masters, this is already a little upsetting. Today is the same case...

You can say that I am contradicting myself, saying that in previous posts I spoke completely differently about the work of hyperrealists, but today... Let me clarify... I don’t want expression, I don’t want a change in style and manner of writing, I want PLOT. The animal world is VERY conducive to the plot. Just a giant field for imagination. Why do animal artists limit themselves to copying photographs of animals?...

Although, maybe these paintings simply do not end up on the Internet... I will try to publish the next post with an animal artist who will show fantasy and imagination on his canvases, at least a little...

Today animal artist Isaac Terry. Among many other authors, his paintings are distinguished by greater perfection. And sometimes even the plot...

I must also say that I am not sure about the oil nature of the paintings. The pictures are small, and therefore it is difficult to see the equipment. I read somewhere on an English-language resource that Isaac Terry paints with acrylic...

Wildlife artist Isaac Terry grew up in Oregon's Willamette Valley. It was there that he found his lifelong love for the wild. Drawing inspiration straight from his backyard, which offered a captivating vista of the Northwestern United States, he began creating his animal art. Now he lives in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada. The place of residence has changed, but the artist’s aspirations remain the same. He transferred all his love for nature to Canada and to this day continues to create pictures of the animal world and their habitats. Terry travels all over the world to capture the most breathtaking images, but the main focus of his work, as in the beginning creative path, continues to be in the circle of northern birds and mammals.

Isaac Terry developed an interest in the arts, starting with animation and cartooning. After graduating from art college, he was drawn to illustrating children's books, but did not stay in this field for long, as he was soon again captured by his childhood passion for wildlife. Since the mid-1980s, he has created his own brand of realistic wildlife art, with an emphasis on dramatic light and the specificity of the animal world. It is inspired by large panoramas as well as close-up views of animals. He was interested in a wide range of animals - from small birds to whales.

Nowadays the artist is successful in selling posters from his paintings. He makes them on high level. Just as in the case of paintings, posters are distinguished by their small number. In some cases, printing is made to order. The cost of a quality poster is about $400-600.

At the end of the post there is a video with the artist Isaac Terry. You can look at what a person who loves looks like wildlife and some of his works that were not included in this short article...

About animals! with pictures of animals! animalists!

Animalism special genre fine arts dedicated to the depiction of animals. Animalists - artists, sculptures (and Lately photographers) depicting animals in their works.

The animalistic genre generalizes the work of animalists in the fine arts (in painting - animalistic paintings, in sculpture - animalistic sculptures and statues, in photography - photographs and photographic portraits of various animals).

Animalism. Before photographs and development artistic photography The animalistic genre was mainly represented by numerous works of painters.
Painting and animalism. Animalism in painting.

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In our time, in the culture of animalism, we can also distinguish animal writers and animal poets. Animal writers and animal poets also create wonderful animalistic works. These novels, stories and poems of the animal genre are often decorated with the works of animal artists or animal photographers.
Contemporary art and animalism are inseparable from each other.