art_history_animalia

art_history_animalia, 1 year ago to random

It’s #MosaicMonday so time for yet another #animal piece from the 420 original 1906 #Moravian tile #mosaics by Henry Chapman #Mercer on the #Pennsylvania Capitol floor: 94. House Fly 🪰:
#InsectsInArt #ArtsAndCraftsMovement

art_history_animalia, 4 months ago to random

#BookRecommendation for Feast of the Ass Day:

Introducing the Medieval Ass (Medieval Animals Series) by Kathryn L. Smithies (2020) https://amzn.to/48xTXts

via #AmazonAssociates​

art_history_animalia, 2 months ago to random

#NationalAardvarkWeek shoutout to Zambia for putting an #aardvark on both a circulating coin & a banknote - apparently the only country cool enough to have ever done either.
Honorable mention to The Gambia for once issuing a commemorative coin with an aardvark too.
[images via Numista]

Issuer: Zambia Period: Republic (1964-date) Type: Standard banknote Years: 2003-2012 Value: 1000 Kwacha (1000 ZMK) Currency: Kwacha (1968-2012) Composition: Polymer Size: 140 × 70 mm Shape: Rectangular Demonetized: 30 June 2013 Number: N# 204063 References: P# 44 Obverse: Eagle, Tree; Lettering: Bank of Zambia, I promise to pay the bearer on demand, one thousand kwacha, For the bank of Zambia, (signature), Governor Reverse: Aardvark, Farmer on tractor, Liberty Monument; Lettering: Bank of Zambia, One thousand kwacha Watermark: African Fish Eagle head, National bird of Zambia Printers: Notes from 2003 - 2006 (P#44a - e) were printed by the Canadian Bank Note Company, notes from 2008 - 2009 (P#44f - g) were printed by the South African Bank Note Company, and notes from 2011 - 2002 (P#44h - i) were printed by Giesecke + Devrient. image: hex7ech / Numista https://en.numista.com/catalogue/note204063.html
Issuer: The Gambia Period: Republic (1970-date) Type: Non-circulating coin Year: 1977 Value: 40 Dalasis Currency: Dalasi (1971-date) Composition: Silver (.925) (Copper .075) Weight: 35 g Diameter: 42 mm Thickness: 2.87 mm Shape: Round Technique: Milled Orientation: Medal alignment ↑↑ Number: N# 38651 References: KM# 18, Schön# 17 Obverse: Effigy of president Sir Dawda Jawara facing left, date to the right; Script: Latin; Lettering: REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA - 1977 Reverse: Aardvark; Script: Latin; Lettering: 40 DALASIS Edge: Reeded Engraver: Michael Rizzello Mint: Royal Mint, Llantrisant, United Kingdom (1968-date) image: G.GILLES / Numista https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces38651.html

art_history_animalia, 2 months ago to random

#InternationalPolarBearDay :
Porcelain Vase In The Form Of Two #PolarBears Inside An Icy Cave
'Makuzu' ware, Miyagawa Kozan workshop, Japan, c.1900-10
H 22.2 cm x D 15.9 cm
V & A: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O39341/vase-miyagawa-kozan/
"From the late 19th century, the Makuzu workshop produced porcelain for the Western market. The source of inspiration for this remarkable object was models of polar bears made by the Royal Copenhagen Manufactory. The icy effect was created using experimental glaze techniques."/

art_history_animalia, 26 days ago to random

Belated #BookRecommendation for #WorldPenguinDay 🐧:
#Penguin (Animal series) https://amzn.to/3w94mOy via #AmazonAssociates

art_history_animalia, 2 days ago to random

For #WorldBeeDay 🐝:
#Netsuke of #Bee on a Leaf
Japan, 19th c.
Ivory, H 1 1/8 x W 1 3/4 x D 1 in. (2.9 x 4.4 x 2.5 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 91.1.985 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/59697
#JapaneseArt

art_history_animalia, 10 days ago to random

Also born #OTD: Dante Gabriel Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882). #BookRecommendation:
Rossetti's #Wombat: Pre-Raphaelites and Australian Animals in Victorian London (2008) https://amzn.to/3QH12B3 via #AmazonAssociates

art_history_animalia, 22 days ago to random

Yay it’s #NationalTabbyDay !
Also #TunnicliffeTuesday , so:
Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe (British, 1901–1978)
Tabby cat on a branch amongst blossom, n.d.
pencil & watercolor, 43.5 x 58 cm. (17.1 x 22.8 in.)
https://www.artnet.com/artists/charles-frederick-tunnicliffe/tabby-cat-on-a-branch-amongst-blossom-CqbhG_ElUmMGKxQ9zYqraw2

#TabbyDay #TabbyCat #CatsInArt

art_history_animalia, 4 months ago to random

For #AppreciateADragonDay on #TilesOnTuesday:
Tile painted with four green #lizards and [#dragonflies], c. 1900
painter: Truus Nienhuis, Netherlands
mark: ‘Craven Dunnill & Co., Shropshire, England’
earthenware tile, h 15.3 × w 15.3 × d 1.0 cm
Rijksmuseum BK-1978-6:
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/BK-1978-6
#ArtNouveau

art_history_animalia, 1 month ago to random

(1/2) Maria Sibylla Merian was born #OTD (2 Apr 1647 – 13 Jan 1717).

Here is a 1719 copy of Metamorphosibus Insectorum Surinamensium turned to
“Pineapple with Cockroaches” that was on display at the “Making Her Mark: A History of #WomenArtists in Europe, 1400-1800” exhibition at the BMA:

Gallery labels “Maria Sibylla Merian German, 1647-1717 Pineapple with Cockroaches in Dissertatio de Generatione et Metamorphosibus Insectorum Surinamensium... (Dissertation on the generations and metamorphosis of Surinamese insects) Amsterdam, 1719 Bound volume of hand-colored engravings and etchings Oak Spring Garden Foundation, Upperville, Virginia” ““This ripening pineapple's sweet aroma attracts a swarm of cockroaches. Maria Sibylla Merian observed this interaction during a three-year, self-financed voyage with her daughter Dorothea Maria to the South American country of Suriname, then a Dutch colony, in 1699. While there, Merian studied the native plant and insect life, learning their uses and behavior from enslaved African and Indigenous guides working at the sugar plantation where she stayed. In her notes, Merian characterized the pineapple as "the most outstanding of all edible fruits" and cockroaches as "the most infamous of all insects in America." Merian's illustrations innovatively presented insect life cycles, habitats, and the broader ecological dynamic. After returning to the Netherlands, Merian published an illustrated compilation, creating one of the most important natural history publications of the time. Her daughters Dorothea Maria Graff and Johanna Helena Herolt-Graff continued to issue editions after Merian's death, such as this deluxe version, contributing to their mother's foundational reputation in entomology.”

art_history_animalia, 1 month ago to Rabbits

Vincent Willem #VanGogh was born #OTD (30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890). And since it's also #EasterBunny time...
Landscape with #Rabbits
Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Dec. 1889
oil on canvas, 32.7 x 40.6 cm
F0739 / JH1876
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/collection/s0099V1962

closeup of the two brown rabbits

art_history_animalia, 1 month ago to worldwithoutus

#BookRecommendation for #NarwhalDay :
#Narwhal: Revealing an #Arctic Legend (2017)
https://amzn.to/3xxcgBE via #AmazonAssociates
#NarwhalAppreciationDay

art_history_animalia, 1 month ago to random

Happy #NarwhalDay!
A #narwhal tusk is the upper left canine tooth that grows through the lip. Sometimes, the right one does the same, resulting in a 2-tusked individual, as illustrated by English naturalist George Shaw (1751 – 1813):
George Shaw's The British Miscellany (1806)
https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28913677#page/54/
George Shaw's Zoological Lectures (1809)
https://biodiversitylibrary.org/item/126483#page/279/mode/

#NarwhalAppreciationDay

illustration of a single-tusked narwhal along with a skull of a two-tusked narwhal from George Shaw's

art_history_animalia, 1 month ago to random

For #NationalPetDay here is a watercolor of Linnaeus' pet #raccoon, Sjupp, by Lars Alstring, c.1746-7. Sjupp was a gift from Crown Prince Fredrik and lived in Linnaeus' garden at Uppsala. This work hung in Linnaeus' study at Hammarby.
Read more about Sjupp here: https://nature.com/articles/446255a

art_history_animalia, 2 months ago to random

#FrogFriday fun fact:
#DYK #VanGogh copied #frogs from one of his #JapaneseArt prints to decorate the border of his copy of another Japanese print?
🐸🐸

1. Vincent van Gogh
   Courtesan (after Eisen)
   Paris, 1887
   oil on cotton, 100.7x60.7cm
2. Utagawa Yoshimaru
   New Print of Insects & Small Creatures
   Tokyo, 1883
   colour woodcut on Japan paper, 37x25cm
   Van Gogh Museum collection:
   https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/collection/s0116V1962
   https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/japanese-prints/collection/n0476V1962u

closeup of the two frogs in the border of his painting
New Print of Insects and Small Creatures Tokyo, ninth month 1883, Utagawa Yoshimaru (1844 - 1907) colour woodcut on Japan paper, 37 cm x 25 cm (“toy print”) From Van Gogh’s personal collection. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
New Print of Insects and Small Creatures Tokyo, ninth month 1883, Utagawa Yoshimaru (1844 - 1907) colour woodcut on Japan paper, 37 cm x 25 cm (“toy print”) From Van Gogh’s personal collection. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

art_history_animalia, 3 months ago to random

Happy #MooseDay!
Tom Thomson (Canadian, 1877-1917)
#Moose at Night, 1916
oil on wood, 20.9 x 26.9 cm
National Gallery of Canada 1545: https://www.gallery.ca/collection/artwork/moose-at-night

art_history_animalia, 5 months ago to random

Tracking Ancient Animals - Archaeology Magazine https://www.archaeology.org/issues/538-2401/digs/11952-namibia-animal-track-way-rock-art

art_history_animalia, 5 months ago to random

It’s #NationalRobinDay in the UK!
Here are two calendar pages from December 1904 & 1910 by Theo van Hoytema (Dutch, 1863-1917) featuring the European robin (Erithacus rubecula) from Rijksmuseum:
#birdsinart

December calendar page with robin, Theo van Hoytema, 1909 color lithography, h 440mm × w 210mm Title(s) December calendar sheet with robin Robin on frosted branch Calendar 1910 12 lithographs by Th. v. Hoytema (series title) Object type picture calendar sheet Object number RP-P-1914-106 Inscriptions / Brands collector's mark, verso, stamped: Lugt 2228 Description The bird sits among snow-covered branches. A tear line at the top of the sheet.

art_history_animalia, 1 month ago to Horses

#ThreeForThursday:
Franz Marc (German, 1880-1916)
Grazing #Horses IV (The Red Horses),
1911
Oil on canvas, 121 x 183 cm (47 5/8 x 72 1/16 in.)
On display at Harvard Art Museums

“As this painting's numeric title suggests, Marc returned repeatedly to the horse as a subject. He became well known for his preoccupation with animals, seeing them as the embodiment of a better, purer world, the bringers of spiritual renewal to Western culture.”

Franz Marc German (Munich 1880-1916 Verdun) Grazing Horses IV (The Red Horses), 1911 Oil on canvas Busch-Reisinger Museum, Bequest in memory of Paul E. and Gabriele B Geier, 2014.301 In 1911, deep in discussions with other members of the expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter and preoccupied with questions of color, Marc began work on Grazing Horses IV. Wishing to give form to inner experience and to free himself from formal constraints imposed by the outside world, he aimed to detach color from its descriptive function and assigned each primary color a specific symbolic value. As this painting's numeric title suggests, Marc returned repeatedly to the horse as a subject. He became well known for his preoccupation with animals, seeing them as the embodiment of a better, purer world, the bringers of spiritual renewal to Western culture. Grazing Horses IV became the artist's first work to enter a museum collection, the same year it was made. Like Heckel's triptych and Kirchner's self-portrait nearby, the painting first belonged to the Folkwang Museum in Hagen (later in Essen), which was at the vanguard of contemporary art collecting in Germany at the time. The painting was removed from the collection in 1937 as part of the National Socialist campaign to rid German museums of "degenerate art."

art_history_animalia, 2 months ago to random

Happy #InternationalDayOfTheSeal ! 🦭

#SeaLion Effigy Stirrup Vessel
Moche, Peru, 50-800 CE (Early Intermediate-Middle Horizon)
Earthenware (Blackware), H: 6 1/4 x W: 9 1/2 x D: 6 1/4 in. (15.9 x 24.1 x 15.9 cm)
The Walters Art Museum 48.2842 https://art.thewalters.org/detail/79387/seal-effigy-stirrup-vessel/

🆔 South American Sea Lion (Otaria byronia)

#IndigenousArt #PeruvianArt

official museum photo of the object, side profile 2 on gradient grey background Moche blackware ceramic single spout stirrup effigy vessel in the form of a sea lion

art_history_animalia, 14 days ago to random

#BookRecommendation for #WorldDonkeyDay 🫏:
Introducing the Medieval Ass (Medieval Animals series) (2020) https://amzn.to/3WwASEU via #AmazonAssociates #Donkey

art_history_animalia, 1 month ago to random

For #ManateeAppreciationDay:

1. original watercolor by Joseph Wolf (German, 1820-1899) for ZSL, 1879 https://z10300uk.eos-intl.eu/Z10300UK/OPAC/Details/Record.aspx?BibCode=8868360
2. published version, plate 7 in Biologia Centrali-Americana, 1879-1882 https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/570882

scanned image of the published color plate of the same artwork as described in post

art_history_animalia, 4 days ago to random

#Baturday :
Maurice Pillard Verneuil (French, 1869–1942)
Chauves-souris et pavots, tenture (#Bats and poppies, hanging)
From Plate 33 of L'animal dans la Décoration, 1897
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chauves_souris_et_pavots_tenture_papillons_et_campanules_papier_peint_-_L%27animal_dans_la_decoration_(1897)_by_M._P._Verneuil_(New_York_Public_Library,_enhanced_by_Rawpixel)_506%27790171_o.jpg
#ArtNouveau

art_history_animalia, 1 month ago to random

For #Woodensday:
Dirck van Rijswijck (Dutch, 1596-1679)
Floral Still Life, mid-17th century
Ebony, rosewood, and mother-of-pearl on oak panel, in an African blackwood frame
On display at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
(1/2 - see next post for closeups of the insects!)

gallery label: Dirck van Rijswijck Dutch, 1596-1679 Floral Still Life, mid-17th century Ebony, rosewood, and mother-of-pearl on oak panel, in an African blackwood frame Seventeenth-century Dutch artists were often concerned with the minute, but the socioeconomic world they operated in was anything but small. Similarly, while representations of insect and plant life on this plaque are rooted in the close study of nature, the object's materiality speaks to the global reach of Dutch merchants. The mother-of-pearl originated in the South Pacific, rosewood often came from Indonesia, and the frame is made of African blackwood. Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection

art_history_animalia, 2 months ago to random

#BookRecommendation for #NationalPigDay 🐖📗:
The Pig: A Natural History https://amzn.to/3T7OGme via #AmazonAssociates