Wildlife art has appealed to humanity from the earliest times. Stone age decorators created wonderful paintings on the walls of their caves and contemporary artists advertise their work on the Internet with equal enthusiasm.
Ancient artists were seldom sentimental. Their depictions may be elongated or foreshortened and understanding seems to go beyond simple realism. Experts advance explanations of symbolic significance and suggest that the creatures that were killed held spiritual qualities for their killers.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries politicians advanced the notions that there was no room for wild life in view of the glorious new eras of human development that was promised. The futility of this ideal is now exposed but in China much damage was done. In the new China there is a reawakening of appreciation. In public places there may be statues of deer and elephants but these seem oddly pathetic in view of the wasted wildlife heritage of the country.
In Africa a battle rages between barbarians who have not yet evolved beyond slaughtering indiscriminately and those who would conserve and protect wild things. Ironically it is those who like to kill who unconsciously protect animals because game ranches keep wild animals so that hunters can pay to kill them. In a bizarre way hunters appreciate the animals they slaughter in a way that may be faintly reminiscent of stone age people. They buy photographs, prints, realistic depictions and stuffed animals to display as trophies.
On the reverse side of the human equation there are many people influenced by an aspect of English culture which emerged with the Romantic poets who revered nature and wildness. Though sometimes sentimental the love of wild things is deep and sincere in many people. Some artists have genuine appreciation of the distinction between domesticated and wild things and try to capture the essence of wildness. Others are yet more subtle and capture the essential wildness even in domesticated animals like dogs and cats.
wildlife art is ancient and modern. The range of artists striving to express the subtle relationships between human beings and animals is very wide and deep. So too is the market. The people who buy this art from online or terrestrial galleries represent a cornucopia of motives and tastes.
Ancient artists were seldom sentimental. Their depictions may be elongated or foreshortened and understanding seems to go beyond simple realism. Experts advance explanations of symbolic significance and suggest that the creatures that were killed held spiritual qualities for their killers.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries politicians advanced the notions that there was no room for wild life in view of the glorious new eras of human development that was promised. The futility of this ideal is now exposed but in China much damage was done. In the new China there is a reawakening of appreciation. In public places there may be statues of deer and elephants but these seem oddly pathetic in view of the wasted wildlife heritage of the country.
In Africa a battle rages between barbarians who have not yet evolved beyond slaughtering indiscriminately and those who would conserve and protect wild things. Ironically it is those who like to kill who unconsciously protect animals because game ranches keep wild animals so that hunters can pay to kill them. In a bizarre way hunters appreciate the animals they slaughter in a way that may be faintly reminiscent of stone age people. They buy photographs, prints, realistic depictions and stuffed animals to display as trophies.
On the reverse side of the human equation there are many people influenced by an aspect of English culture which emerged with the Romantic poets who revered nature and wildness. Though sometimes sentimental the love of wild things is deep and sincere in many people. Some artists have genuine appreciation of the distinction between domesticated and wild things and try to capture the essence of wildness. Others are yet more subtle and capture the essential wildness even in domesticated animals like dogs and cats.
wildlife art is ancient and modern. The range of artists striving to express the subtle relationships between human beings and animals is very wide and deep. So too is the market. The people who buy this art from online or terrestrial galleries represent a cornucopia of motives and tastes.
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