 | Over the course of art history the representantion of animals has always been one of the most popular themes for dealers, artists and the general public, and at the beginning was one of the easiest to understand. In the world, in Egyptian, Greek and Roman art and later in the Renaissance the interest for this subject never quite vanished, yet it had it's highs and lows. |
It will only be in the 19th century that this theme once again returned to high fashion in the world of collectors and dealers, leading to the appearance of the animalier genre. This was the first school of art solely devoted to the realist depictions of animals, from domestic to wild beasts and even fantastic ones, mixtures of myths and reality, the popularity of the school being also supported by the rising of the sporting picture genre.
The William King Regional Arts Center in Virginia, USA, is the host of a fascinating exhibition, "Animals in Bronze", the 46 works being on loan from the prestigious Michael and Mary Erlanger Collection of Animalier Bronzes from the Georgia Museum of Art. Made in the 19th century, these are briliant examples of how this subject was viewed by sculptors in those times. Surprising due to their beauty and freshness, despited being more than a hundred years old, the sculptures have already drawn the attention of the general public.
Photo : wkrac.org
2007-10-18
