We have a soft spot for art. But not just any art — we’re talking about animal paintings. We love animals, we love paintings, and of course, we love the combination of the two!
Following the recent discovery of a pig painting in Indonesia, where Ice Age cave painters flourished, it’s said that the first traces of animals in art date back to at least 45,000 years ago. Since then, art featuring animals has taken many forms. From Pisanello’s Duck in 1440, passing through Yi Am’s art in the 16th century, and the French animal painter Rosa Bonheur in the 1800s, we’ve seen animals depicted in all kinds of styles and genres.
When it comes to capturing the spirit of an animal through pencil or brushstrokes on canvas, some have a talent that is hard to match. We’ve selected our favorite animal artists over time so that you can see how stunning the most famous animal paintings are for yourself! The artists featured here have taken painting animals to the next level — from incredibly realistic portraits of cats and dogs to more abstract pieces that feature animals in new, exciting ways.
#1 The Monarch Of The Glen (1851) By Sir Edwin Landseer
Landseer’s The Monarch of the Glen is a stunningly beautiful depiction of a stag — a male deer — now located at the Scottish National Gallery of Edinburgh. The stag is portrayed as majestic, with his antlers raised high as he wanders across a foggy forest glen. It was commissioned in the 19th century as one of three panels to hang in the Palace of Westminster, London.
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21points
#2 The Bachelor Party (1896) By Louis Wain
Louis Wain was a shy and eccentric artist from England, best known for his paintings of anthropomorphized cats. The Bachelor Party is a delightful piece that shows a group of five cats enjoying a night out, drinking and smoking cigars. It’s part of a private collection.
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19points
#3 Young Hare (1502) By Albrecht Durer
Young Hare is a fascinating example of Dürer’s use of watercolor and his studies on nature and animals. The animal is rendered with almost photographic accuracy, and despite the work’s title, the portrait is sufficiently detailed for the animal to be identified as an adult hare.
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19points
#4 Sleeping Dog (1650) By Gerrit Dou
Inspired by the work of Rembrandt, Gerrit Dou painted this incredibly realistic portrait of a sleeping dog. For centuries, the painting has received wide acclaim, and it’s still one of the most popular pieces at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
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19points
#5 Shepherdess With Her Flock (1864–1865) By Jean-Francois Millet
Shepherdess With Her Flock, exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1864 to great acclaim, features a youthful shepherdess (probably Millet’s daughter) standing alone in a field, surrounded only by her flock of sheep, in a personal moment of tranquility. The painting conveys a sense of peace as well as an underlying feeling of melancholy.
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19points
#6 Portrait Of A Lion (1879) By Rosa Bonheur
During the Franco-Prussian War, Rosa Bonheur developed a special fondness for lions and how their image can be associated with freedom, rebellion, and bravery. Anna Klumpke, Bonheur’s partner in the final years of her life, said that Rosa Bonheur was always attracted to the energy of felines, which she began studying at fairs.
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19points
#7 Morning In A Pine Forest (1889) By Ivan Shishkin And Konstantin Savitsky
Morning in a Pine Forest depicts a coniferous forest composed of evergreen trees with a family of bears, a mother and her three cubs, playing on a broken pine tree. It’s believed that Shishkin painted the pine trees, inspired by the forests of the Gorodomlya islands, while the bears are attributed to Savitsky.
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18points
#8 A Distinguished Member Of The Humane Society (1831) By Sir Edwin Henry Landseer
The animal in the picture is meant to be “Bob,” a dog found in a shipwreck near the coast of England who became known for saving many people from drowning. It’s said Landseer bribed the dog with treats to get him to stay still for the portrait. The original painting was damaged in a flood and returned only 50 years after its restoration in 2009.
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17points
#9 Naughty Boy Or Compulsory Education (1840-1920) By Briton Rivière
British artist Briton Rivière displayed a variety of artworks at the Royal Academy but committed his life to painting animals.
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17points
#10 School Rules (1887) By William Holbrook Beard
William Holbrook Beard made a living out of his satirical paintings of animals performing human-like activities. School Rules presents a group of animal children at school standing in front of their ape schoolmaster.
17points
#11 The Rhinoceros (1515) By Albrecht Dürer
Dürer’s woodcut of a rhinoceros is remarkable, considering the German artist never actually saw one in real life. The image he realized is based on a written description and an anonymous brief sketch of an Indian rhinoceros. Its rhinoceros is not anatomically accurate in every part, but the resemblance to a real one is evident and was copied multiple times in the following centuries.
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16points
#12 Peacock, Hen, And Male Pheasant In A Landscape (C. 1750s) By Tobias Stranover
Tobias Stranover, a Transylvanian Saxon painter, had a freshness and exoticism missing from other animal painters active in Britain at the time. It shows in his Peacock, Hen And Male Pheasant In A Landscape, realized in the first half of the 18th century. Very little is known about this oil painting, which is part of a private collection.
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16points
#13 The Lady With An Ermine (1489) By Leonardo Da Vinci
One of Leonardo Da Vinci’s most remarkable paintings, The Lady With An Ermine depicts Cecilia Gallerani, the young mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. Some have noted how the animal in her arms is too large to be an ermine. Still, Da Vinci wanted to pinpoint its symbolic nature more than anatomical accuracy — the ermine is a traditional symbol of purity and moderation.
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16points
#14 Whistlejacket (1762) By George Stubbs
British artist George Stubbs was a specialist equine painter, and Whistlejacket is an eloquent example. The painting shows a racehorse, which belonged to the Marquess of Rockingham, rearing up against a plain background. The canvas is empty except for some feeble shadows, with the artist focusing almost entirely on the horse’s appearance and the animal’s incredible details.
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16points
#15 Zebra (1763) By George Stubbs
Zebra is one of the first works of a series of paintings Stubbs dedicated to exotic animals. The animal in this painting belonged to Queen Charlotte and was the sole survivor of a pair of zebras brought back from Africa by Sir Thomas Adams.
16points
#16 Victory Or Defeat By Hu Zaobin
A fine representation of animal painting in Chinese art, Victory Or Defeat was realized by Hu Zaobin, a 20th-century painter famous for his portrayal of tigers, who perfected his craft both in his native China and in Japan.
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15points
#17 A Family Of Pugs (1877) By Charles Burton Barber
A painting depicting a group of pugs playing and relaxing, A Family of Pugs was commissioned by Queen Victoria at the Windsor kennels. The pugs portrayed here were called Topsy, Sally, Scamp, Quiz, Minnie, May, and then there’s the male puppy of Quiz and Minnie.
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15points
#18 Queen Victoria With John Brown (1876) By Charles Burton Barber
We’ve already talked about how Charles Burton Barber was mainly known for his charming paintings of children and pets, but this one strays away from his usual subjects. It was commissioned by Queen Victoria as a gift to one of her most loyal and faithful servants. It was painted in 1876 and gifted to Brown to celebrate his birthday in August.
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15points
#19 The Horse Fair (1852) By Rosa Bonheur
Widely viewed as the most prominent female painter of the 19th century, Rosa Bonheur is an emblematic figure among animaliers. The Horse Fair is one of her most representative works, realized in 1852 and completed with the final details in 1855, and depicts horse dealers at the market on the Boulevard de l’Hôpital, Paris.
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14points
#20 A Friend In Need (1903) By C. M. Coolidge
Dogs playing poker and drinking whisky in perfect kitsch style? That’s Cassius Marcellus Coolidge for you. Despite the peculiar subject, A Friend In Need has become one of the most famous animal oil paintings, a recognizable piece that cheekily mirrors the success of middle-class Americans.
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14points