Animals In Famous Paintings
Many historical figures and celebrities have gone down in history through the paintings of renowned artists. However, some famous paintings were dedicated not to humans, but to animals.
Here are the most famous paintings that portrayed the animal kingdom through art:
Famous Animal Paintings: A Friend in Need by Coolidge
Surely, A Friend in Need is the most internationally recognized painting that portrays animals. Created in 1903, the work portrays a seven dogs playing poker, smoking and taking positions very ‘ humanised ‘. For this reason, the painting is more popularly known as ‘dogs playing poker’.
It is also interesting to know the history of this famous work by the painter Cassius Marcellus Coolidge. Cassius was hired to help with the advertising campaign of a major tobacco brand.
To attract the attention of consumers, the artist made 16 oil paintings throughout his career, in which he portrays dogs with human attitudes.
Pablo Picasso, his dogs and the white dove of peace
After the end of World War II, the Communist Party of Spain (PCE), of which Pablo Picasso was affiliated, asked him to create a symbol of peace. Inspired by his talent and his political beliefs, the Malaga artist makes a simple and fine sketch of a white dove. In the play, we see the bird symbol of peace carrying an olive branch in its beak.
Created in 1949, Picasso’s drawing has been a symbol for the Congress of Peace, held in Paris. And today, the painting continues to be a remarkable artistic representation of a world that calls for peace.
However, Picasso’s ‘animalistic paintings’ did not remain there. The artist used to declare himself a devoted admirer of dogs; in fact, he claimed that Lump, his ‘dachshund’, was the only company he tolerated while he was working. From his great love for dogs, the work Child with a dog , painted in 1905 , emerged.
Salvador Dalí and his surreal butterflies
Salvador Dalí has been an indisputable eccentric genius and also the most consecrated name of the surrealist current. In his painting Butterflies , the Spanish artist uses this animal as a symbol of the eternal transformation of life.
Loaded with symbolism, the work reminds us that existence is something dynamic, which presupposes a process of infinite metamorphoses. Insects are the metaphor for the unstoppable advance of life.
Andy Warhol’s beloved pets
Andy Wahrol is the name most representative of the modern and colorful Pop-Art style. The American artist was an assumed animal lover and lived with dogs and cats throughout his life. Among his famous paintings, we find the Portrait of Maurice , where we observe his beloved pet.
To demonstrate his great affection for animals, Warhol created a series of paintings that portray 25 cats in different colors. Among them, the Green Cat has been the most prominent representation at the international level. In addition, Warhol also published a peculiar book called Cats, Cats, Cats .
Velázquez, Goya and the dogs of the Spanish aristocracy
These two Spanish artists have created famous paintings where they portray the adoration of members of the nobility for their pets. In the renowned painting Las Meninas by Velázquez, we see a beautiful specimen of a mastiff named Salomón; According to the painter, the dog appears as a symbol of loyalty and protection.
Goya has also left us a very well-known painting about animals, called Two Boys with a Mastiff . In it, we see two children happily playing with a huge mastiff dog.
The horse of Emperor Charles V
In Titian’s famous painting, we see Emperor Charles V riding his handsome horse during the Battle of Mühlberg. Although the animal does not appear as a protagonist in this case, its image adds up to the exuberance of the work.
It must be remembered that the horses in the paintings, and the equestrian statures, were represented as a symbol of nobility, since they increased the bearing and figure of their masters.
Titian himself could have painted one of the earliest known ancestors of the current poodle (or poodle). In one of his famous paintings, the painter portrays Federico II Gonzaga with a small white dog with a woolly coat.
