Rise of the Modern Animaliers
by Todd Wilkinson
pg 16
The nineteenth-century school of sculpture known as “Les Animaliers” is exerting a fresh influence on modern representational artists across North America.
Born in Europe as an avant-garde challenge to the perceived rigidity of Neo-classicism and the Enlightenment, the aim of animaliers or “animal artists” was to elevate the validity of animal motifs to a rightful place alongside the human figure. The original French Animaliers deliberately chose wild animals as subjects, rather than domesticated creatures and beasts of burden, which signaled a turn away from the human-centered view of nature as something to be conquered and tamed.
Expressing wonder at the real world, filled as it was with violence and brutality but also profound beauty and mystery, animaliers were major catalysts in the rise of Romanticism.
New generations of animaliers today are bringing not only fresh artistic interpretations of wildlife from far-flung corners of the world, but their work is assuming greater purpose in the twenty-first century.
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