Discover animal art for sale, made by the best artists practising today. From surrealist animal art to vibrant animal illustrations, you’re sure to find a piece that speaks to your personal tastes here. With beautiful Animal Paintings, Animal Drawings, Animal Photography and much more available, this is your number one stop to buy or rent animal art online and begin or continue your art collecting journey.
Discover more about the artists
Vikram Kushwah is an Indian photographer who is now based in London. His work has a dream-like quality, drawing inspiration from Surrealism and the Pre-Raphaelites to create enchanting photographs that appear to be straight out of a storybook. Animals often play a central role, such as in his photograph Three Crows that sees nature creeping into a home in the form of a mossy carpet and three starkly silhouetted crows.
For high-impact illustrations, look no further than Kristjana S Williams. Born in Iceland, this artist’s illustrations tell tales of far off, tropical lands, with vibrant and contrasting colours that instantly grab your attention. Most of her artwork focuses around animals, either in their natural habitat or in fantastical situations, such as Akari and Niko where we see cockatoos clad in traditional Japanese dress.
Celebrate the surreal and bizarre with Alexandra Gallagher, a British artist working with both painting and collage. Her pieces are eclectic depictions of humans and their relationship with animals, and she plays with geometric forms to blur the lines between the two. It’s easy to lose yourself in these tapestry-like artworks, where themes such as femininity and identity are channelled through animal and human scenes.
Animal portraiture is perhaps done best in the studio of British artist, Dave White. In a style that lies at the crossroads of expressionist and realist, Dave White brings a certain relatable humanity into the faces of the animals he portrays. From auctioning off works at Christie's charity benefits to awareness-raising exhibitions, through his art, Dave White work alongside wildlife conservation foundations to protect and preserve the animals he paints.
A brief history of animal art
The animal world has always been a subject of fascination for artists across the world, dating back to the earliest examples of animal art in the form of cave paintings of bison and deer. This tradition has continued through the ages, with artists of all eras putting paintbrush to canvas to capture the beauty and intrigue of our animal companions.
The Ancient Egyptians famously portrayed animals as deities themselves, worshipping the cat goddess known as Bastet. Wander around any Ancient Egyptian collection in a museum and you’re bound to come across countless cat sculptures and carvings, always portrayed in a position of respect and power. This theme of animals as religious entities can also be seen in Medieval art, where fantastical beasts such as dragons and unicorns conveyed a divine presence in artworks. Not only this, but the animals that were essential to everyday tasks like farming and transport also featured heavily in this period. While the rise of prestigious art Academies from the 16th century onwards saw a shift towards human subjects, it wasn’t long before animals began to reappear in art. In the 18th and 19th century, rich patrons would commission paintings of their beloved pets to immortalise them.
