The animalistic genre in the visual arts is perhaps the oldest in history. Our ancestors on the walls of their caves with sharp stones scraped exactly the images of animals. Proof of this is the Lascaux cave in France.
Many centuries have passed since then. Painting, drawing and sculpture have acquired a rich history, and the animalistic genre - paintings by famous artists as evidence of this - has become less popular. However, despite the emergence of new objects of the image, such as people, architecture, landscapes and much more, animalism has not ceased to be in demand among artists as well as among art lovers.
Animalistic genre in the visual arts: paintings depicting the animal world
Animalism is an image 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 the most universal genre in the world, since animal images are characteristic of people of all eras and cultures.
Images of animals are also characteristic of works of art created in a different genre. For example, Shishkin’s famous painting “Morning in a 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 an animalistic genre. It is worth noting that Shishkin did not write his famous bears, they were made by animal artist Konstantin Savitsky.
This practice was extremely popular among animalists. For example, France Snyders - one of the most famous artists of the animalistic genre - often painted animals in paintings by Rubens. It is noteworthy that not all artists, even the most famous, could cope with the image of animals and birds.
The history of the animal genre
The depiction of animals is the oldest genre of art, the fervor of which did not die down until the Renaissance and the centralization of the focus on a person with his classical ideals. It is noteworthy that in the era of classicism, animals were depicted on vases, mosaics and murals with enviable regularity.
Our early ancestors, scraping on the stone walls of their rude dwellings the figures of those animals that they hunted and those from whom they ran, 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 commonly 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 animals or to deify the representatives of the fauna themselves. Thus, images of animals appeared on objects of worship, tomb walls and jewelry.
Oddly enough, the animalistic genre in the visual arts began to take on modern features precisely during the Renaissance - an era when painting was predominantly religious. Although it is worth noting that most genres took shape thanks to the Renaissance.
Animal genre: artists
The first representatives of the animalistic genre in art are the Chinese artist Yi Yuanji (beginning of the XI century), famous for the image of monkeys, and the Chinese emperor Xuande from the Ming dynasty (mid XV), who painted monkeys and dogs as a hobby.
In Renaissance Europe, the animal 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. The paintings of famous artists of that time infrequently departed from the accepted norms of painting, however, even on the canvases of Leonardo and Raphael, though rare, animals and birds still appear.
The most outstanding and famous animal painter is the Flemish Baroque painter Frans Snyders. He was especially famous for his still lifes with hunting trophies.
Animal painting
During the Renaissance, Baroque, Classicism, Romanticism and subsequent styles, animalism was never the dominant, but even the popular genre. However, talented animal artists could secure a decent living by collaborating with other artists, such as Frans Snyders.
Aristocrats and the bourgeoisie, especially in England, ordered images of the leading horses at the 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. The animalistic genre in painting was also popular among the bourgeoisie, especially with regard to images of hunting and caught game.
Animal genre in sculpture
Images of animals in sculpture are very popular around the world. From the Capitoline Wolf and the Braunschweig Lion to the Bronze Horseman and the Berlin Bear, animal sculptures often become symbols of cities and historical events.
Especially among animal sculptors stands the French artist Antoine-Louis Bari, who worked in the era of romanticism. His sculptures are characterized by dramatic and energetic characteristics characteristic of romantics. Bari, however, was an unusually talented sculptor who studied in detail the anatomy and plastics of animals. According to him, the image of 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 need to be caught in order for the image to turn out natural.
Other types of animalism
The animalistic genre in the visual arts did not bypass photography either. Today, many professional photographers and talented lovers pay attention to the natural beauty and power of animals. This is especially true against the backdrop of modern environmental problems 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 charming species of animals, such as the Amur tiger, Far Eastern leopard, panda, koala and western gorilla.