Wildlife

Wildlife for portraits

The portrait art of wildlife has changed since the Victorian era. The Victorians depicted wild animals as savage beasts to be feared or hunted. The passenger pigeon and dodo were hunted to extinction and other animals have been lost or are extremely endangered as a result. Whereas in the 20th and 21st century, the beauty and awe inspiring nature of wildlife, have been more sympathetically portrayed in art. Although hunting and habitat loss are still major concerns for the world’s wildlife, the portrayal of wildlife in art has helped to highlight their peril.

Wildlife portraits don’t have to be political, but the sheer nature of the subject matter raises awareness and the plight of certain species. The tiger is a classic case; people love tigers as they are extremely attractive animals with a sense of danger also. Paintings, sculptures and drawings of tigers are very popular and highlight the fact that over recent decades they have been under the real threat of extinction. In fact tigers are extinct in some countries where they were once found. Java and Bali have both lost their populations of tigers, due to poaching, habitat loss and the ever growing population of man.

Many other exotic animals are popular as portraits, including species such elephants, giraffe, rhinos, hippos, gazelle, deer and zebra. The big cats are some of the favourites amongst collectors, especially the ‘marked’ cats such as leopards, cheetahs and of course tigers. European wildlife art is very popular in many areas and British wildlife artists have a big following throughout the world.

The vast species list of birdlife is a category that some artists have based their entire careers on, from birds of prey, parrots, wildfowl, to common species found in the garden. Colourful and diverse birds make great subjects for portraits and compliment any space where artworks are hung or displayed in.