What main genres of painting do you know? The most brilliant animal artists What is the animalistic genre in fine art

The name of this genre comes from Latin word"anima" - "animal". It includes works of painting, sculpture, graphics, decorative and applied and folk art depicting animals. An animal artist must combine great love and sensitivity for nature with the observation skills of a scientist.

The animal world was of great importance in life primitive man. The most ancient artists left colorful drawings of deer, bison and mammoths on the walls of caves, which even today amaze with their authenticity. In the 1st millennium BC. e. magical figurines of birds and animals made of clay, metal, and bone gave rise to the so-called animal style in the art of the Scythian tribes from the Carpathians to the borders of Western China. The spontaneity of living form, combined with the ornamentation of compositions, will remain in decorative and applied creativity many peoples.

Images of animals reach unsurpassed monumentality and grandeur in Ancient Egypt. After all, the Egyptians considered many animals to be gods. Sphinxes, humanoid deities with the heads of animals and birds, embodied the connection between human and animal principles in nature. The same idea of ​​the unity of the world prompted the ancient inhabitants of Peru and Mexico to combine figures of people and animals into bizarre groups in the decoration of decorative vessels.

IN Ancient Japan And Ancient China images of animals became a common motif in decorative and monumental compositions. The most essential in each image is invariably noted. The main achievement of the art of ancient Crete was the dynamism that permeated all generalized images - from a bull to flying fish. In countries Ancient Mesopotamia figures and heads of bulls, lions, and horses decorated dishes, weapons, carved seals and musical instruments.

The reliefs of the palaces in ancient Nineveh and Susa convey with amazing force the character of animals, especially lions, which in hunting scenes are depicted as worthy rivals to powerful kings.

For artists Ancient Greece And Ancient Rome man becomes the main object of art; images of animals do not play a significant role in ancient art.

Wounded lioness. Fragment of the relief “The Great Lion Hunt” from the palace of King Ashurbanipal in Nineveh. 669- approx. 663 BC e. Limestone. British Museum. London.

In its quest to reflect real world In all their diversity, artists of the European Renaissance widely practiced life sketches of animals, images of which are found in sculpture, frescoes and easel paintings. One of the first to turn to such images was in the 15th century. A. Pisanello, and in the 16th century. Animal drawings of remarkable strength and accuracy were created by Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Durer.

In Holland in the 17th century. the image of animals stands out as a separate genre. Its founders A. Cape and P. Potter skillfully show domestic animals against the backdrop of farms and pastures. Each animalist chooses his favorite range of themes and images. In the 19th century outstanding sculptor A.L. Bari reflected his admiration for the love of freedom and the peculiar grace of animals in dynamic groups of predators. And C. Troyon, close to the artists of the Barbizon school, wrote poetic landscapes with cows and sheep surrounded by peaceful rural nature. On turn of the 19th century- XX centuries the Swede B. Liljefors depicts wild animals in their natural habitat, the French sculptor F. Pompon shows interest in the decorative and plastic qualities of birds and animals, and German painter F. Mark in his works revives the heroism of images of wild animals.


V. A. Serov. Illustration for I. A. Krylov’s fable “The Lion and the Wolf” Graphite pencil, ink, pen. State Tretyakov Gallery. Moscow.

The first animal painter in Russia was in the 18th century. I. F. Groot. In the 19th century N. E. Sverchkov, E. A. Lanceray and especially P. K. Klodt (sculptural groups on the Anichkov Bridge in St. Petersburg) achieve great expressiveness in images of horses. The highest achievement of the Russian animalistic genre is the masterly graphic illustrations for the fables of I. A. Krylov, performed by V. A. Serov . They combine the poignancy of natural sketches of animals with gentle humor.


P. Potter. Farm. 1649. Oil on canvas. State Hermitage Museum. Leningrad.

The creativity of Soviet animal painters in painting, easel and park sculpture, as well as in book graphics distinguished by a deep understanding of the natural world. The oldest sculptor and graphic artist V. A. Vatagin, with scientific observation, conveys the attractive liveliness of his feathered and four-legged heroes. Sculptor I. S. Efimov prefers decorative solutions. IN fairytale illustrations Yu. A. Vasnetsov and other masters reflected the traditions of folk decorative arts, whose images still live in wood, bone, stone carvings, clay folk toys and embroidery.


V. A. Vatagin. Mammoths. 1946. Tree.

Animal image

Knowledge of the anatomy, life and habits of an animal is a necessary condition for creating a complete image. This knowledge is acquired gradually, and no opportunity should be missed to replenish it.

Drawing from living nature is the main way to understand an animal.

Impressions drawn directly from life - the only one, irreplaceable, truly living material for further creative work artist.

It is better to start getting acquainted with drawing an animal with a training sketch. The sketch conveys in the most general and meager lines the various poses, moments of movement and proportions of the animal, as well as its individual parts. When executing a sketch, you should not pay attention to the details, and there is no need to shade it either. A sketch is the fastest way to put your first impressions of nature on paper.

The line is the main element of the sketch; it should be applied to the paper easily and freely, maintaining clarity. For sketches, it is better to take smooth thin paper and a pencil. medium soft. Line on rough paper soft pencil breaks into dots, smudges more easily and loses its clarity. It is better for a beginner to draw light lines without blackening them: in this case, you can leave incorrect lines without erasing, and replace them with more correct ones, and at the end of the sketch, erase what is unnecessary; In this way, the beginner gets used to using an eraser less often and not unnecessarily scuffing the paper: not all paper tolerates an eraser.

For the first acquaintance with any animal or bird, it is convenient to take a medium-sized sheet of paper and start making sketches from the upper left side, several on one sheet, following the changing poses of nature (do not make them too small - there should be five sketches on the sheet or six).

You should not throw it around while working. Having chosen a nature, you should concentrate on it as seriously and as long as possible.

One should strive for both the beauty of the line and a sharp and true expression of the character of what is being depicted, i.e., the semantic content of the sketch.

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Animalism, animalism - artistic style

Animalistic (Animalistic genre), another name is Animalism (from the Latin animal - animal) - a genre of fine art, the main object of which is animals, mainly in painting, photography, sculpture and graphics. Animal studies combines natural sciences and artistic principles. The main task An animalist can be both the accuracy of the image of an animal and artistic and figurative characteristics, including decorative expressiveness or endowing animals with traits, actions and experiences inherent in people (for example, fables).

From sculpture, animalistic ceramics are widespread.

Animalism, animalism - history

Stylized figures of animals are among the monuments of the animal style (en), in art Ancient East, Africa, Oceania, ancient America, in folk art many countries. Artists working in the animalistic genre are called animalists.

Animalism, animalism - representatives

Yi Yuanji (c. 1000 - c. 1064) - Chinese artist, especially known for his skill in painting monkeys
- Zhu Zhanji (1398-1435) - Chinese emperor and master of drawing dogs and monkeys.
- Frans Snyders (1579-1657) - Flemish painter.
- Jan Wildens (1586-1653) - Flemish painter.
- Jan Veit (1611-1661) - Flemish artist and engraver.
- Paulus Potter (1625-1654) - Dutch painter.
- David Koninck (1636-1699) - Flemish painter.
- Mori Sosen (森狙仙) (1749-1821) - Japanese master of monkey painting
- Jacques Laurent Agasse (1767-1849) - Swiss painter.
- Karl Kuntz (1770-1830) - German painter and engraver.
- Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863) - French painter and graphic artist.
- Pyotr Klodt (1805-1867) - Russian sculptor.
- Philippe Rousseau (1816-1887) - French painter.
- Joseph Wolf (1820-1899) - German graphic artist and painter.
- Brighton Riviere (1840-1820) - English painter.
- Heinrich von Zügel (1850-1941) - German painter.
- August Gaul (1869-1921) - German sculptor.
- Franz Marc (1880-1916) - German expressionist painter.
- Vasily Vatagin (1883-1969) - Russian painter and sculptor.
- Evgeny Charushin (1901-1965) - Russian graphic artist, Honored Artist of the RSFSR.
- Konstantin Flerov (1904-1980) - Russian paleontologist, graphic artist and painter, Doctor of Science.
- Nikolai Kondakov (1908-1999) - Russian biologist, illustrator, candidate of sciences.
- Rien Poortvliet (1932-1995) - Dutch illustrator.
- Robert Bateman (born 1930) is a Canadian animal artist.

Animalism, animal painting - works

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One of the main tasks that the artist sets for herself is to create on her canvases a world of living creatures, both neighboring us and those found only in places where humans rarely set foot. And not only those animals that are recognized by humans as standards of beauty, and not only those that can be kept in the house, especially in the apartment. Therefore, among the heroes of her paintings are cute Yorkies, pugs, Persian cats, budgies, ibises that bring happiness, and far from harmless lions, tigers, jaguars, wolves, lynxes, and eagles.
And let someone be afraid of a living jaguar or orangutan - after all, the character in the picture, to paraphrase Ivan Bunin, is not a piece of gold for everyone to love. Some may like him, others may not - but the character in the picture will never offend or frighten anyone. Moreover, the character in the painting will never change his mood, his character will not deteriorate, he will not even grow old, but will forever remain living on the canvas exactly as the artist captured him. And not at a random moment, as happens when taking photographs, but by summarizing your knowledge, observations and impressions, fusing them into what is called an artistic image.
But paintings live for hundreds, thousands of years - and someday it will be by them that our distant descendants will judge the creatures that coexisted with humans at the end of the twentieth century - beginning of XXI century.

Nikolay PROSHIN

Paintings by Marina Efremova were used in the design of the article: Husky, 2005, oil on canvas; Orangutan, 2003, oil on canvas; Greyhounds in the field, 2002, oil on canvas; old wolf, 2007, oil on canvas; White Tiger, 2007, oil on canvas

Art: business or destiny?
Animalistics, - animalistic painting and animalistic drawing, -
despite other artistic projects, continues to remain
one of Marina Efremova’s favorite genres. And it’s no coincidence that exactly
animalism 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 Marina Efremova, written 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 Autumn", "Greyhounds in the 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”, “Bison 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”.

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 animalistic 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 the Chinese artist Yi Yuanji (early 11th century), who became famous for his depictions of monkeys, and the Chinese Emperor Xuande from (mid-15th century), who painted monkeys and dogs as a hobby.

In Renaissance Europe, the animalistic genre developed one of greatest representatives 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 a dominant, but even a 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. The animalistic genre in painting was also popular among 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 animalistic genre is far from the most popular in the world of painting, since the works are not as in demand as impressionism or romanticism. At the same time, there are quite a lot of artists who skillfully draw animals and create bright and beautiful paintings. Often, animal painters added animals to the drawings of other artists, as was the case with famous painting Shishkin, where Savitsky painted bears.

Read also:

So, which animal artists can be noted?

Robert Bateman

Robert practiced drawing birds since childhood, and now he has achieved fame by painting animals and birds in natural settings. Robert's works have taken pride of place in private collections, famous museums. He values ​​nature and is involved in conservation organizations.

Bulgarian artist Karl Brenders

The artist spent a lot of time studying, now he is working on sketches using pencil, and then complements the work using gouache and watercolor. As a result, each of the works amazes with its realism; they are very close to the photographs.

Peter Williams

The artist is self-taught, having worked as a driver, tutor and computer analyst. He always did painting in parallel. But by 2002, Peter began to paint professionally, and by 2010, Wildlife Artist magazine awarded him an award. On at the moment Peter is revered, and his drawings are published in publications

Terry Isaac - American animal artist

The artist began with illustrations for books for children, but later became fascinated by the beauty of wild nature. He believes that for this direction in drawing it is very important to be able to observe nature and its inhabitants. He was voted Best of Florida in 1998, has worked on bird guides, and has had his work exhibited in renowned museums.

Watercolors by Susan Bordet

Painting in watercolor is very difficult, but Susan manages to convey real anatomy, complementing the images with a soft background in the impressionist style. This technique has developed over the artist’s two decades of work. She actively exhibits and is published in the album “The Charm of Nature.”

Animalist David Stribbling

It is a leader in its field in the UK. In 1996, he set up a studio in the attic and began working seriously. The artist prefers to paint wild nature; his works most often depict African spaces and animals.

Cristina Penescu from Romania

The artist’s striking works are created using the scratching technique. She makes images using a special base and scratches. Christina did not study, mastering the technique on her own. Each image requires approximately 1,000 strokes of white clay on pressed cardboard. Next, the works are covered with black ink and realistic halftones are created. Some paintings are decorated using acrylic paints.

Works by Paul Krapf

The American artist was born in the western part of Pennsylvania. To learn how to reflect nature and animals, he studied painting. First when high school, and later in Pittsburgh, attending art institute. Before devoting himself entirely to painting, the artist worked at NASA as a design engineer.