Animal genre in the visual arts. Paintings by famous artists

Animal genre in the visual arts is perhaps the oldest in history. Our ancestors on the walls of their caves with sharp stones vistavlyali it! The proof is the cave of Lascaux in France.

Since then, many centuries have passed. Painting, drawing and sculpture acquired a rich history, and animalistic genre-paintings by famous artists proof – became less popular. However, despite the emergence of new image objects, such as people, architecture, landscapes and more, animalism ceased to be in demand among artists and art lovers.

Animal genre in the visual arts: paintings, depicting fauna

Animalism – the depiction of animals in works of art. This genre is not limited to drawing and painting, and actively used in several other art forms. Many artists and critics consider animalism the most versatile in the world of genre as images of animals peculiar to people of all ages and cultures.

Pictures of animals are peculiar to works of art created in a different genre. For example, a famous painting by Shishkin “Morning in a pine forest». Shishkin – the greatest of landscape painters in the history of Russian art, and “Morning in a pine forest”, is without a doubt the landscape, but with elements of the animal genre. It is worth noting that Shishkin wrote his famous bears, they were made animal painter Konstantin Savitsky.

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This practice was extremely popular among the animals. For example, Frans Snyders – one of the most famous artists of the animal genre – often painted animals in the paintings of Rubens. It is noteworthy that not all artists, even the most famous, able to cope with the image of animals and birds.

History of the animal genre

The animal – the most ancient genre of art, the ardor which is not extinguished until the Renaissance and centralize the focus on the man with classic ideals. It is noteworthy that in the era of classicism animal was depicted on vases, mosaics and frescoes with remarkable regularity.

Our earliest ancestors, scraping on the stone walls of their rude dwellings the figures of those animals which were hunted, and those who fled, sought to systematize life and the environment, educate the children, to pay tribute to nature. It should be noted that animal figures were often depicted in much greater detail than the figures of human hunters. This early animism is called animal style.

Later in the culture of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, India and other regions it was popular to depict deities in the form of an animal or to deify themselves fauna. Thus images of animals have been objects of worship, the walls of the tombs, and jewellery.

Oddly enough, the animalistic genre in the visual arts began to take on a modern character in a period of Renaissance-an era when painting were mostly religious. Although it is worth noting that most of the genres took shape thanks to the Renaissance.

Animal genre: artists

The First representatives of the animal genre in art is a Chinese artist And Yangtze (the beginning of XI century), famous for a picture of a monkey, and the Chinese Emperor Cyanide of the Ming dynasty (mid-XV), who as a hobby was drawing monkeys and dogs.

In Europe the Renaissance animal genre has developed one of the greatest representatives of the Northern Renaissance, Albrecht dürer. While his contemporaries wrote religious themes, dürer actively studied the flora and fauna; his watercolors, drawings and lithographs say that one of the pillars of the Renaissance were interested in the animalistic genre. Paintings by famous artists of the time rarely departed from the accepted norms of painting, however, even in the paintings of Leonardo and Raphael, albeit rarely featured animals and birds.

The Most outstanding and the famous animal painter is Flemish Baroque painter Frans Snyders. He was particularly famous for his still lifes with hunting trophies.

Animal painting

During the Renaissance, Baroque, classical, romantic and later styles animalism has never been not that dominant, but even a popular genre. However, talented artists-animalists can secure a decent living, collaborating with other artists, such as Frans Snyders.

The Aristocracy and the bourgeoisie, especially in England, ordered images of leading horses or their Pets. In many portraits of the era all the same Baroque figured people with Pets. Military portrait needed to portray the leaders on horseback. Often, many of the aristocrats preferred to be depicted in the portrait in the saddle. The animalistic genre inpainting was popular and the bourgeoisie, especially the images of hunting and caught poultry.

Animal genre in sculpture

Pictures of animals in the sculpture is very popular around the world. From “the Capitoline wolf” and “Brunswick lion” to “the bronze horseman” and “the Berlin bear” - sculptures of animals often become symbols of the cities and historical events.

Especially among sculptors-animalists is highlighted by the French artist Antoine-Louis barye who worked in the era of romanticism. His sculptures are distinctive for romantics drama and energy. Bari, however, was an extraordinarily talented sculptor, who studied in detail the anatomy and shape of animals. According to him, the image of the animal in motion requires special observation, because one anatomy isn't enough. Every animal has its plasticity, the manner of motion and characteristic habits which need to grasp that the image is natural.

Other types of animalism

Animal genre in the visual arts did not pass and photo. Today many professional photographers and talented Amateurs pay attention to the natural beauty and strength of animals. This is especially important against the background of contemporary environmental problems and the desire of many people and organizations to pay attention to them and prevent the possible disasters that threaten us with the loss of a beautiful and charming species of animals, such as Amur tiger, far Eastern leopard, Panda, Koala, and Western gorilla.