One of the main tasks that the artist sets herself is to create on the canvases the world of living beings, both neighboring with us, and meeting only where the human foot rarely sets foot. And not only those animals that are recognized by man 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 both cute Yorkies, pugs, Persian cats, budgerigars, ibis that bring happiness, and far from harmless lions, tigers, jaguars, wolves, lynxes, eagles.
And let someone be afraid of a living jaguar or orangutan - after all, the character of the picture, to paraphrase Ivan Bunin, is not a gold piece to be loved by everyone. Someone may like it, someone may not - but the character of the picture will never offend anyone, will not scare anyone. Moreover, the character of the picture will never change his mood, his character will not deteriorate, he will not even grow old, but will forever live on the canvas exactly as the artist captured him. And not at a random moment, as happens when photographing, 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 our distant descendants will judge the creatures that coexisted with man in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Nikolay PROSHIN

In the design of the article, paintings by Marina Efremova were used: 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 be
one of the favorite genres of Marina Efremova. And it is no coincidence that
animalism became the main topic of the interview "Picturesque Energy",
which the journalist Olga Volkova took from Marina Efremova.

"Animal exhibition as an art and educational action"
Art critic Nikolay Efremov. Report at the 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 by Marina Efremova, painted in 1999-2010. Some of them are in private collections, some - in the artist's collection.
Paintings with dogs: "Basset Hound Vaska", "Lying Yorkie", "Portrait of Yorkshire Terrier Lucky", "White Guard (Dog Argentino)", "Black Guard (Rottweiler)", "Yorky Tofik", "Yorky Manya", "Yorky Chink", "Portrait of Timoni", "Husky Harness", "Mongrel", "Late Autumn", "Greyhounds in the Field", "Portrait of a German Shepherd", "Pugs", "Portrait of a Rottweiler", "Saint Bernard Vanessa", "Puppy with a hare", "Boxer puppy", "Archie's basset hound".
Paintings with cats: "Cat Timych", "Grey Cat", "Zhulka the Cat", "Cat Murash", "Black Hearth Keeper", "White Hearth Keeper", "Red Cat".
Paintings with horses: "Black Horse", "Bay".
Wild Animal Paintings: Gorilla Portrait, Waiting (Wolf Portrait), Tiger Portrait, White Tiger, Old Wolf, Last Rush, Buffalo Head, Mandrill, Lioness Portrait "," Lion and Falcon", "Orangutan", "Black Jaguar", "Belek", "Fox", "Wolf", "Portrait of a Wolf".
Pictures with birds: "Eagle", "Ibis", "Blue-and-yellow macaw", "Kafa horned raven".

Animalism (Animalistic genre), sometimes also Animalism (from lat. animal - animal) -

fine art genre

The main object of which are animals, mainly in painting, photography, sculpture, graphics, and less often in the decorative arts. Animalistics combines natural science and artistic principles. The main task of the animalist can be both the accuracy of the image of the animal, and artistic and figurative characteristics, including decorative expressiveness or endowing animals with human features, actions and experiences (for example, fables).

Of sculpture has a spread

animal ceramics

Stylized figures of animals are found among the monuments of the animal style (en), in the art of the Ancient East, Africa, Oceania, ancient America, in the folk art of many countries.

History of animalism

Artists working in the animalistic genre are called animalists. Animals in painting and graphics arouse the same interest in the audience as portraits of famous people. And this is no coincidence. From animalistics, when in the Paleolithic era, more than 30 thousand years ago, people began to depict animals on the rocks, world art began. Rooted in the deep past and the tradition of keeping as a keepsake images of domestic animals, as well as animals and birds that were considered sacred. Bas-reliefs of dogs, lions, bulls and horses of ancient Assyria, bas-reliefs and frescoes with dogs, cats, ibis, crocodiles, baboons, snakes, jackals, falcons of Ancient Egypt, ceramics with drawings of dogs and horses of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, sculptural images have come down to us. jaguars, snakes and other animals among the Aztecs and Maya. The image of animals in ancient China reached the highest level. There are known images of dogs similar to Chow Chow, more than two thousand years ago. Even today we admire the animalistic graphics of Chinese masters. The European aristocracy became interested in animalism during the Renaissance. From that time until the twentieth century, many portraits depicted a person with an animal to which he was attached - a horse, dog, cat. Paintings by such famous artists as Paolo Veronese, Jean-Baptiste Oudry, Van Dyck, Gainsborough, Titian Vecellio, Antonio Moreau, Rosalba Carriera, George Stubbs, Henri-Francois Riesener and many others, depicting people with their pet animals, at least these artists have never positioned themselves as animal painters, they are included in the collection of masterpieces of world art.

The Russian elite also showed interest in animalism. Several years ago, the Historical Museum exhibited portraits of dogs donated to the Russian tsars. A sculpture was made from the Italian greyhound of Catherine the Great, which is now stored in Peterhof. And in the picture of Borovikovsky, the Empress is depicted with her other Italian Greyhound. Count Orlov assembled a collection of portraits of his greyhounds and horses. The portrait of a man with an animal was painted by Bryullov, Makovsky, Serov, Serebryakova, and other famous Russian artists, not only with a dog, but also with horses, and even with tamed wild animals. Russian animal artists are also known all over the world, that is, those who paint mainly animals - Stepanov, Vatagin, Efimov, Laptev, Charushin. In the second half of the 20th century in Europe, the masters of realistic portraiture, including animalistic ones, began to be pressed by representatives of "modern art". For example, Hirst, who exhibited a cow, a shark, etc., preserved in formalin, got into the animal painters. But interest in animalism in a realistic manner has developed in the USA - the works of many animal artists are exhibited at the exhibitions held there

And nimalism is a genre in the visual arts dedicated to our smaller brothers. The heroes of the works of animal artists are animals and birds (animal - from Latin “animal”). Love for life and nature, the perception of oneself as a part of the living world - this is what drives the brush of creators who bow their heads before the creatures to whom man is greatly indebted.

The history of animalism in painting

Animalists in their works try to maintain the accuracy of the image of the animal and at the same time add artistic expressiveness to the image. Often the beast is endowed with human traits, actions and emotions. The origins of this type of art lie back in the primitive world, when ancient people tried to convey the anatomy of an animal, its beauty and danger to humans in cave paintings.

From the origins of antiquity

Sculptural monuments of animals and animal ceramics are an integral part of the history of Ancient Africa, America and the East. In Egypt, the gods were often depicted with the heads of birds and beasts. Ancient Greek vases also feature decorative images of animals. Animalism was equally developed in all countries.

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages added to the images of animals allegorical and fabulous. The favorite characters of the masters of that time were dogs. Faithful friends surrounded a person in everyday life, on a walk, hunting. The famous Venetian painter of the 16th century, Veronese, introduces the image of a dog into religious subjects - the animals follow the foot of the Savior.

Renaissance

Renaissance masters tried to paint animals from life, which was quite difficult. You can't force any animal to freeze and pose. In the XVII-XVIII centuries, animalistic painting developed rapidly in the Netherlands, France and Russia. Images of animals can be found in the paintings Rembrandt, Rubens and Leonardo da Vinci. Serov endowed images of animals with special meaning in Russian art - his illustrations for Krylov's fables convey the ideas of instructive texts with inimitable liveliness and satire.

On the threshold of the millennium

The 19th-20th centuries alienated animalists a little from romanticism and sublimity in creating images of animals. Realism becomes a characteristic feature of the era. Painters try to accurately convey the anatomy of the animal. Color, posture, habits - everything is so photographic in the paintings that it is sometimes difficult to see the trace of the artist's brush. Later, hyperrealism became widespread in animalistics, when small details are brought to the fore at the behest of the master, who wants to focus on one of the qualities of the animal.

Famous paintings and artists of the animalistic genre. Creators of the East

One of the first representatives of animal painting in painting is the Chinese artist Yi Yuanji, who worked at the beginning of the 11th century. He became famous for his unique depictions of monkeys in subjects imbued with the style of the East. The Emperor Xuande of the Ming Dynasty continued his ideas. Drawing monkeys and dogs was his favorite pastime.

Painters of Europe and the world

famous german Albrecht Dürer, who worked in the Renaissance, left numerous watercolors and lithographs, quite realistically conveying images of animals ( "Lion", "Rabbit", "Stork" other).

A truly outstanding animal painter is the Flemish Frans Snyders (XVI-XVII centuries). His still lifes with hunting trophies are true masterpieces that adorn numerous galleries and exhibition halls in Europe. Some of the artist's most popular paintings are "Deer Hunting", as well as "Fox and Cat".

Animalism was not at that time a popular genre of painting, but the bourgeois liked to commission paintings depicting horses and other domestic animals. Portraits of people in the Baroque style often included images of birds and animals.

It is also impossible not to recall one of the strongest animal painters of the 20th century - Canadian Robert Bateman. His bison, elephants, lions, deer and leopards look at the viewer from the window of wildlife, ajar on the canvas of the master.

Russian artists

Russia has opened many great animal painters to the world. Vasily Vatagin devoted his life to studying the habits and plasticity of animals. His works in graphics, watercolor and pencil are so piercing that you can feel the breath and look of the animal on you. Excellent examples of works in the animal genre of Serov - "Bathing a Horse" and "Oxen".

Another unsurpassed master of Russian animalism is Konstantin Savitsky. It was his famous bears that got into Shishkin's painting "Morning in a Pine Forest". Evgeny Charushin, Konstantin Flerov, Andrey Marts are representatives of the Soviet period in the development of the direction.

Animal painting in the modern world is very close to the art of photography. Fine craftsmanship and great love for living beings are required to create such masterpieces. It is as if the artists are knocking on the human heart with a request: "Take care of this world of nature, it is leaving us."

Animalistics is a genre of fine art that combines natural science and artistic principles. Paintings belonging to this genre can be strikingly different from each other, depending on the tasks set by the artist and the drawing technique used in the work.

Maria Stanislavovna Pavlova is a talented artist from St. Petersburg. “I only write what I myself will gladly hang on the wall in my room,” says Maria Pavlova.

The name of the artist Evgeny Mikhailovich Rachev is inextricably linked with fairy tales, the characters of which are animals. He created a whole world of inimitable and fabulous "Rachev animals". “I wanted,” the artist said, “to draw a fairy-tale creature, like an animal, and at the same time bears the features of a human character.”

Kris Surajaroenjai is a Thai artist whose work is imbued with love for one of the symbols of Thailand - the elephant.

English animal artist Peter Williams, who began his career as a self-taught artist, has created a whole world of vivid and remarkable watercolor images.

Paintings by animal painter William Schimmel Jr. are popular all over the world and reflect his sense of the Universe, the Earth and its inhabitants.

Carl Branders is a renowned Belgian animal artist. Watercolor hyperrealism is shown in its highest skill, with a high degree of detail.

Elena Averkina, an artist from Belarus, started painting in 2001 without any art education. To date, she has participated in several international exhibitions. “The main joy of my work,” says Elena Averkina, “is that even a year after the purchase of my painting, people thank me for my work. And I am happy that I can bring happiness to other people.

English animal artist Persis Clayton Weirs is known for his colorful and kind work. He writes not only cats, but they occupy a significant place in his work.

Animal painter Isaac Terry paints oil paintings. His animals and birds on the canvases seem to be alive.

Tatyana Samoshkina is a non-professional artist, but she manages to create her own kind and childishly naive world. Her paintings are able to open the most hidden corners of the human soul. In her work, many see their inner world, and for someone the whole universe opens up.

The presented selection of paintings demonstrates only a small part of the existing styles and trends that are rapidly developing. Once upon a time, our ancestor drew uncomplicated rock paintings of animals, trying to convey the anatomy and gracefulness of the movements of the beast with maximum accuracy. Currently, some animal artists are using cutting-edge computer graphics in an effort to convey their creative idea. This suggests that despite its long history, animalistics has an inexhaustible potential.

Yi Yuanji (circa 1000 - circa 1064) is a Chinese artist, especially known for his skill in painting monkeys.

Zhu Zhanji (1398-1435) - Chinese emperor and master of painting dogs and monkeys.

Frans Snyders (1579-1657) - Flemish painter.

Jan Veit (1611-1661) - Flemish painter and engraver.

Paulus Potter (1625-1654) - Dutch painter.

David Koninck (1636-1699) - Flemish painter.

Karl Kuntz (1770-1830) - German painter and engraver.

Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863) - French painter and graphic artist.

Pyotr Klodt (1805-1867) - Russian sculptor.

Philip Rousseau (1816-1887) - French painter.

Josef Wolf (1820-1899) - German graphic artist and painter.

Brighton Riviere (1840-1820) - English painter.

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 sciences.

Nikolai Kondakov (1908-1999) - Russian biologist, illustrator, candidate of science.

A few words about some of them:

Christophe Drochon

Born in France, on the outskirts of Paris, in 1963. His talent as an artist was not immediately noticed. Christophe's school teacher even told his mother that her son would never achieve great success in painting. But this did not cool his passion for art - Drochon enthusiastically devoted all his free time to independent painting and, thanks to his talent and hard work, proved that the school teacher was wrong. The childhood of the future artist took place in Paris, he did not see wildlife and knew nothing about the natural habitat of wild animals. But when Christophe went to school, his family settled near the Vincennes Zoological Park, and traveled to the south-west of France in the summer. There he spent a lot of time, carefully observing the animals and making sketches. His interest in nature grew, and his observations taught him to deeply understand and empathize with animals. Drochon's stunning work, craftsmanship and technique of realistic depiction of animals delight and captivate nature lovers. However, his depiction of animals is different from the usual. In his works, animals and landscape always serve as symbols to express the ideas of the artist and illustrate his emotional state. He tries to convey to the viewer the awareness of the impermanence of the world. In many of his drawings, the eyes of animals are very expressive, which makes the essence of wildlife more tangible and brings us closer to self-knowledge.

Sonia Reid

Born in the USA in the city of Kullman in 1964. Studied at Auburn University. In 1988, she successfully graduated from Winfrop College with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and worked as an interior designer for 8 years. Sonya has always loved animals and enjoyed the beauty of nature. Deciding to devote all her time to their image, she leaves for Africa. Having visited the famous Ngoro-Ngoro crater in Tanzania, Sonia fell in love with the nature of this continent. Africa has become her passion. In her paintings, made in oil and graphite, she tries to show everything that touched her soul and call on the audience to protect and glorify wildlife. Her paintings have won numerous awards at numerous exhibitions. Another passion of the artist is photography and collecting books about Africa and its nature.

Dan D. Amico

Dan lives in a mountain valley near the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Dan's interest in art started very early. He spent so much time drawing horses and rabbits that his parents gave him a chalkboard to save paper. While attending the High School of Art, Dan developed an interest in Impressionism. He felt a special kinship with the art of Claude Monet, admired the art of Andre Vieta, whose style greatly influenced Dan's further work. Originally self-taught, Dan completed a master class with Robert Bateman in 1991 and later studied with renowned artist Bob Kuhn as he believes that an artist should learn, grow and experiment all his life. One of the main tasks of the artist, according to Dan, is to share the beauty of the world around him. He says: “If I can push someone to appreciate the play of light on damp autumn grass, I feel that I can touch his soul. The viewer cannot experience the moment of inspiration, he can only get in touch with the picture, passing it through his own sensations. Dan tries to create a mood by evoking reciprocal feelings or memories. In his works, he tries to truthfully convey not only the appearance of the animal, but also its feelings. In 1991, Dan was elected a member of the Animalist Organization.

animal painting canvas

Nikolai Nikolaevich Kondakov

Born in 1908 in the city of Ryazan. After graduating from school, he entered the biological faculty of Moscow State University. He began his career while still a student at the Murmansk Biological Station. After graduation, he worked at many research institutes in Vladivostok, Moscow and Leningrad. In the 1920s he defended his Ph.D. thesis on squid research. He took part in many expeditions. His main contribution to biological science was his drawings of various representatives of the fauna. These illustrations were included in many publications, such as the TSB, the Red Books of the USSR, the RSFSR, animal atlases, and textbooks. In total, during his life, Kondakov made several tens of thousands of drawings.

Flerov Konstantin Konstantinovich

(February 4, 1904 - July 26, 1980) - Soviet paleontologist, doctor of biological sciences, professor. Head of the Paleontological Museum. Yu.A. Orlova (1946-1972), member of the Soviet-Mongolian paleontological expedition. An artist-reenactor and animal painter, who recreated the appearance of many fossil animals, was widely cited in illustrations of paleontological subjects in the second half of the 20th century.

Evgemniy Ivamnovich Charumshin

(October 29 (November 11, old style) 1901, Vyatka, now Kirov - February 18, 1965, Leningrad) - Soviet graphic artist, sculptor and writer. Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1945). The son of the architect I.A. Charushin.

Vasily Alekseevich Vatamgin

(1883/1884 - 1969) - Russian and Soviet graphic artist and animal sculptor. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1964). Active member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1957). Laureate of the Stalin Prize of the third degree (1952). Professor at the Moscow Higher School of Industrial Art (former Stroganov).