An animalier (/ˌænɪməˈlɪər, ˈænɪməlɪər/, UK also /ˌænɪˈmæli/) is an artist, mainly from the 19th century, who specializes in, or is known for, skill in the realistic portrayal of animals. "Animal painter" is the more general term for earlier artists. Although the work may be in any genre or format, the term is most often applied to sculptors and painters.

A lion killing a boar by Frans Snyders

Animalier as a collective plural noun, or animalier bronzes, is also a term in antiques for small-scale sculptures of animals, of which large numbers were produced, often mass-produced, primarily in 19th-century France and to a lesser extent elsewhere in continental Europe.[1]

Although many earlier examples can be found, animalier sculpture became more popular, and reputable, in early 19th-century Paris with the works of Antoine-Louis Barye (1795–1875), for whom the term was coined, derisively, by critics in 1831,[2][3] and of Émile-Coriolan Guillemin. By the mid-century, a taste for animal subjects was very widespread among all sections of the middle classes.

Prominent animaliers

edit
 
Eagle by Henri Alfred Jacquemart on the Paris Garnier Opera

Painters

edit

Sculptors

edit
 
A bronze sculpture of a partridge with gilt patination by Jules Moigniez, c. 1880

References

edit
  1. ^ "Les Animaliers". www.bronze-gallery.com.
  2. ^ Philip Ward-Jackson. ""Animalier sculpture." The Concise Grove Dictionary of Art. Oxford University Press, Inc., 2002. 13 April 2008". Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T003027.
  3. ^ "Dr. Arthur R. Metz and His Collection". Indiana.edu. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
edit