Image series 18 / 2025: Animals in Art

Inspiration for Thousands of Years

23 April 2025 | By: Bettina Pfleging

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From the first cave paintings to contemporary art, animals have been depicted in various art forms: in graphic art, sculpture, paintings and object art. How they are shown in art varies greatly. On the one hand, their strength, instincts and emotions are made visible, while on the other hand they are depicted as beings equal to or superior to humans, or they complete everyday scenes as farm animals and pets. The way they are shown also determines how we see animals.
The exhibition explores humanity’s ambivalent relationship with animals in thematically structured rooms and highlights individual aspects that influence our perception of certain species.

“Dyret og os – elsket, brugt, dræbt”
9 March until 29 June 2025, Museumsberg Flensburg

01

Animal, 200 BCE–300 CE, terracotta, 3,9 × 7 × 4,6 cm, Cleveland; The Cleveland Museum of Art

02

Arent van Bolten. Grotesque Animal, Oil Lamp, 1610 – 1650, bronze, 10,5 × 10 cm, Amsterdam; Rijksmuseum Collection, Amsterdam

03

Hans Leu, der Jüngere. Orpheus und die Tiere, Ausschnitt, 1519, 51 × 58 cm, Basel; Digitale Diathek, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Institut für Kunstgeschichte

04

Joachim Beuckelaer. Verkäufer exotischer Tiere, Ausschnitt, 1566, Öl auf Leinwand, 139,5 × 204 cm, Neapel; Virtuelle Diathek, Universität Hamburg, Kunstgeschichtliches Seminar

05

Edwin Landseer. Isaac Van Amburgh and His Animals, Ausschnitt, 1839, Öl auf Leinwand; Virtuelle Diathek, Universität Hamburg, Kunstgeschichtliches Seminar

06

Franz Marc. Schlafende Tiere, Ausschnitt, 1913, Tempera, Pappe, 43,8 × 38,7 cm; ArteMIS, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Kunsthistorisches Institut

07

Karel Appel. Menschen und Tiere, Ausschnitt, 1949, Öl auf Leinwand, 352 × 358 cm, Amsterdam; ConedaKOR Frankfurt, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Kunstgeschichtliches Institut Dresden

08

Maria Lassnig. Wilde Tiere sind gefährdet, Ausschnitt, 1980, 306 × 200 cm; DILPS Bilddatenbank UdK, Universität der Künste Berlin