Animal painter
Encyclopedia
Especially in the 17th century, animal painters would often collaborate with other artists, who would either paint the main subject in a history
History painting
History painting is a genre in painting defined by subject matter rather than an artistic style, depicting a moment in a narrative story, rather than a static subject such as a portrait...
or mythological piece, or the landscape background in a decorative one. Frans Snyders, a founder of the Baroque animal painting tradition, often provided the animals, and also still lifes of food, for Peter Paul Rubens; a different landscape specialist might provide the background. In the Dutch Golden Age
Dutch Golden Age
The Golden Age was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. The first half is characterised by the Eighty Years' War till 1648...
such specialists tended to produce smaller genre paintings concentrating on their specialism. Animal painters came low down in the hierarchy of genres
Hierarchy of genres
A hierarchy of genres is any formalization which ranks different genres in an art form in terms of their prestige and cultural value....
, but the best painters could make a very good living; many royal and aristocratic patrons were more interested in their subject matter than that of the more prestigious genres. Mainly in England, there were still more specialized painters from the 18th century who produced portraits of racehorses and prize specimens of livestock, whereas in France animal subjects continued to be decorative capriccios
Capriccio (painting)
In painting, a capriccio , means especially an architectural fantasy, placing together buildings, archaeological remains and other architectural elements in fictional and often fantastical combinations, perhaps with staffage of figures. It fits under the more general term of landscape painting...
often set around garden statuary.
Animalier
Animalier
An animalier is an artist, mainly from the 19th century, who specializes in, or is known for, skill in the realistic portrayal of animals. "Animal painter" is the more general term for earlier artists...
as a collective plural noun, or animalier bronzes is also a term in antiques
Antiques
An antique is an old collectible item. It is collected or desirable because of its age , beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features...
for small-scale sculptures in particular, but also paintings, of animals, of which large numbers were produced, often mass-produced, in 19th century France and elsewhere. Although many earlier examples can be found, animalier
Animalier
An animalier is an artist, mainly from the 19th century, who specializes in, or is known for, skill in the realistic portrayal of animals. "Animal painter" is the more general term for earlier artists...
sculpture became more popular, and reputable, in early 19th century Paris with the works of Antoine-Louis Barye
Antoine-Louis Barye
Antoine-Louis Barye was a French sculptor most famous for his work as an animalier, a sculptor of animals.-Biography:Born in Paris, Barye began his career as a goldsmith, like many sculptors of the Romantic Period...
(1795–1875), for whom the term was coined, decisively, by critics in 1831. By the mid-century, a taste for animal subjects was very widespread among all sections of the middle-classes.
Before 1800
- Jan Brueghel the ElderJan Brueghel the ElderJan Brueghel the Elder was a Flemish painter, son of Pieter Bruegel the Elder and father of Jan Brueghel the Younger. Nicknamed "Velvet" Brueghel, "Flower" Brueghel, and "Paradise" Brueghel, of which the latter two were derived from his floral still lifes which were his favored subjects, while the...
- Giovanni Benedetto CastiglioneGiovanni Benedetto CastiglioneGiovanni Benedetto Castiglione was an Italian Baroque artist, painter, printmaker and draftsman, of the Genoese school. He is best known now for his elaborate engravings, and as the inventor of the printmaking technique of monotyping. He was known as Il Grechetto in Italy and in France as Le...
- Alexandre-François DesportesAlexandre-François DesportesAlexandre-François Desportes was a French painter and decorative designer who specialised in animals.Desportes was born in Champigneul, Marne. He studied in Paris, in the studio of the Flemish painter Nicasius Bernaerts, a pupil of Frans Snyders...
- Karel DujardinKarel DujardinKarel Dujardin was a Dutch painter.-Biography:Karel Dujardin was a Dutch painter and etcher, born in Amsterdam in 1622. Although active as a portrait and history painter, he is best known for his Italianate landscapes. Typical of his landscape paintings is Farm Animals in the Shade of a Tree...
- Jan FytJan FytJan Fyt was a Flemish Baroque animal painter and etcher.-Life:...
- Sawrey GilpinSawrey GilpinSawrey Gilpin was an English animal painter, illustrator, and etcher who specialised in paintings of horses and dogs. He was made a Royal Academician.-Life and work:...
- Melchior d'HondecoeterMelchior d'HondecoeterMelchior d'Hondecoeter , Dutch animalier painter, was born in Utrecht and died in Amsterdam. After the start of his career, he painted virtually exclusively bird subjects, usually exotic or game, in park-like landscapes...
- Jean-Baptiste HuetJean-Baptiste HuetJean-Baptiste Marie Huet was a French painter, engraver and designer associated with pastoral and genre scenes of animals in the Rococo manner, influenced by François Boucher....
- George MorlandGeorge MorlandGeorge Morland was an English painter of animals and rustic scenes.-Life:Morland was born in London, the 3rd son of Henry Robert Morland , artist, engraver and picture restorer...
- Jean-Baptiste OudryJean-Baptiste OudryJean-Baptiste Oudry was a French Rococo painter, engraver, and tapestry designer. He is particularly well known for his naturalistic pictures of animals and his hunt pieces depicting game.-Biography:...
- Paulus PotterPaulus PotterPaulus Potter was a Dutch painter, specialized in animals in landscapes, usually with a low point of view. Before Potter died of tuberculosis, 28-years old, he succeeded in producing about a hundred paintings, working continuously.-Life:Few details are known of Potter's life...
- Roelandt Savery
- Frans Snyders,
- George StubbsGeorge StubbsGeorge Stubbs was an English painter, best known for his paintings of horses.-Biography:Stubbs was born in Liverpool, the son of a currier and leather merchant. Information on his life up to age thirty-five is sparse, relying almost entirely on notes made by fellow artist Ozias Humphry towards the...
- Paul de VosPaul de VosPaul de Vos was a Flemish Baroque painter.De Vos was born in Hulst near Antwerp, now in the Dutch province of Zeeland. Like his older brother Cornelis and younger brother Jan, he studied under the little-known painter David Remeeus...
, brother of Cornelis, brother-in-law of Frans Snyders - Jan WeenixJan WeenixJan Weenix or Joannis Wenix was a Dutch painter. He was trained by his father, Jan Baptist Weenix, together with his cousin Melchior d'Hondecoeter. Like his father, he devoted himself to a variety of subjects, but his fame is chiefly due to his paintings of dead game and of hunting scenes...
After 1800
- Eugène DelacroixEugène DelacroixFerdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
- Rosa BonheurRosa BonheurRosa Bonheur, born Marie-Rosalie Bonheur, was a French animalière, realist artist, and sculptor. As a painter she became famous primarily for two chief works: Ploughing in the Nivernais , which was first exhibited at the Salon of 1848, and is now in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris depicts a team...
- Charles JacqueCharles JacqueCharles-Emile Jacque was a French painter of animals and engraver who was, with Jean-François Millet, part of the Barbizon School...
- Edwin Landseer
- Friedrich Wilhelm KuhnertFriedrich Wilhelm KuhnertFriedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert was a German painter, author and illustrator, who specialized in animal images.-Personal life:...