Animal interactions in art offer an opportunity to view nature as a blend of color, motion, texture, and form. The pictures below exemplify these relationships and explore the special attributes and qualities which animals possess. If you want to learn about these pictures and their artists, continue reading!

 Activity: Draw your own picture of two or more animals together or try to draw one of the images below. Describe the interaction within the scene.

 "Animals have many rich colors and textures.”    Fig. 1

Melissa Miller, Out of the Coop, 1978                   oil on canvas, 36 inches x 50 inches

Houston-born Melissa Miller is one of the best-known and most successful modern artists to specialize in animals as subject matter. Strongly influenced as a child by both life on her grandparents' farm and by the work of Dutch animal painter Melchior Hondecoeter, Miller combined a richly expressionistic painting style with symbolic and anecdotal subject matter in such works as "The Flood" and "The Crow Exposed." 

 She had her first one-person museum exhibition at the Amarillo Museum of Art in 1978, from which this painting was drawn. Since then she has had major museum and gallery shows, and her work appears in public and private collections all over the world.

"Out of the Coop" is an excellent example of Miller's developing early style, and derives its theme from a straightforward rendering of farmyard life.

 "Similar subjects can have many different artistic interpretations." Fig. 2

Robert Gartland, Young Blood, 1971          oil on canvas

Here we see an example of a relatively contemporary artist working in what is essentially a 19th century style and subject - the romantic view of the untamed American West. Such paintings are characterized by anthropomorphism (portraying animals as though they were people) and the cute or sentimental title ("Young Blood" referring here to the buffalo calf in the shadow of the larger buffalo, somewhat like The Lion King.)

Numerous artists in the 1800’s (Remington, Russell, Catlin, W. R. Leigh) portrayed the American frontier in sentimental terms. In fact, they often used identical motifs (themes) to portray the lives of Native Americans and buffalo, since the two were so closely connected.

 The composition is worth studying: instead of putting the focal character in the middle, the forms of the buffalo are distributed in an interesting way along the horizon, which, appropriately to the West, is two-thirds down the picture. While several of the animals are dramatically silhouetted, the figure in the center of the composition is probably emphasized the least.

Elaine de Kooning, Bulls, 1958                                     oil pastel and conte crayon on paper                             11 x 14 inches

American Elaine de Kooning was involved at the center of the Abstract Expressionist movement from its roots in the 1940s. Along with Jackson Pollock, Arshile Gorky, Franz Kline, and her husband, Willem de Kooning, this artist saw the role of leadership in modern art shifted for the first time from Paris to New York City.

Elaine de Kooning's specialty was depicting figures in action through the use of slashing, multidirectional brush strokes. In her drawings, such as this one of bulls, she was able to suggest the potential of strength and movement through strong, active line. Bulls were an increasingly popular subject for de Kooning in the mature period of her career, culminating in a striking series of large paintings inspired by the European cave art.

“Photography of animals expands and reinterprets reality.”    Fig. 4

Keith Carter, Peacocks, Tyler County, 1990 toned gelatin silver print, 15 inches x 15 inches

We're used to thinking that photographs are "real," as opposed to "art," because we see them, especially the black and white images, in newspapers and old fashioned newsreels. Artists often use this belief to their advantage.When a movie director wants to be extra "serious," he films in black and white.

Photographer Keith Carter has set up an artificial composition that looks like a picture he just happened to discover. In reality, the backdrop was especially painted for this picture, and the birds were posed.

Edward Weston, Edward Weston's Cats, 1944 toned gelatin silver print                                         9 1/2 inches x 72 inches

Photography has been in existence for almost 160 years and there has been  constant debate as to whether it can be labeld as “art.” People often question the presence of photographs in the Museum, since "anyone can take a picture." Well, anyone can hold a pencil or a paintbrush too. What counts is results. Early in this century, a number of photographers dedicated themselves to demonstrating and exploring the artistic possibilities of the medium. One of the best was Edward Weston.

His photograph is a "gelatin silver print" - the term for what used to be called a regular black and white photograph. Silver salts are suspended in an emulsion (gelatin) which is painted on film or paper. These salts turn black when they're exposed to light. On film, the negative image would be the opposite of what we see here--e. g., the door would be dense black and cats, for the most part, almost transparent. When light is projected through the negative onto silver-emulsion paper, the darks and lights are reversed again to create the positive image.

 A great deal of skill is often involved in controlling the amount of light that is projected through different areas.

“Animal interaction adds interest and meaning to an  image.” Fig. 6

Edmund Henry Osthaus (1858-1928),  Landscape with Hunting Dogs, n.d.               oil on canvas, 45 inches x 60 1/4 inches

Hunting scenes featuring animals have been enormously popular among American collectors for more than 150 years. This is a particularly good example, with a real sense of electricity in the postures and expressions of the three dogs, who dominate the composition. The viewer can easily imagine himself in the hunting scene, feeling the excitement of the beasts.

“Decorative art often simplifies and re-interprets the animal form.”       Fig. 7

Artist unknown, Saddle Rug with Snow Lions and Dragons,              late 19th century, Tibet

This saddle rug was woven by a craftsperson whose name we do not know. The central panel depicts a snow lion, one that might be found in the mountainous regions of Tibet. Both the lions and the mythical dragons probably send a message regarding the power of the owner or some symbol relating to his family.

This sort of flat, stylized animal figure is known as "heraldic" and is often used in coats of arms: symbols of a particular family in the European tradition. If you go back far enough, most people can trace their roots to one or more such coats of arms. The symbols here are less specific and probably used mainly for decorative purposes.

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