Anthropomorphic Art -- Animals as Humans (100th Post)

Nerdy Squirrel, Wicks

My brother's optometrist's office displays whimsical watercolor prints of animals wearing glasses. One of the artists is Deidre Wicks. It seemed appropriate as a transition from medical art to once again rely on observation as inspiration for talking about art. This post will investigate how artists use animals in their paintings, often in strange and unusual settings. Such anthropomorphic art replaces human figures with animals.

Poker Game (1894), C. M. Coolidge

One of the most recognizable examples of kitsch art is American artist C. M. Coolidge's Dogs Playing Poker. The artist created two such paintings in 1894 and 1910, along with a 1903 series of commissioned works for the advertisement of cigars. My Animal Art & Wildlife Photography post also shows how dogs, in particular, are used in today's advertising. Subaru commercials employ a family of golden retrievers known as the Barkleys with Dad, Auggie, driving the car. I once raised a spaniel mix named Auggie, in honor of the Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters.

Barbershop with Monkeys and Cats
(c. 1647), Abraham Teniers

Painting animals exhibiting human behavior is nothing new. It apparently originated in ancient Egypt and became a visual art genre in 16th- and 17th-century Flemish painting, making fun of humans and downgrading them to monkeys. In 18th-century France it was called singerie, meaning 'monkey trick'. It was popularized by French artists, Jean-Baptiste Deshays, Jean-Antoine Watteau, and Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin. Such paintings often included cats. Personally, I'd much rather be compared to a dog!

This painting reminds me somewhat of Diego Velázquez's 1656 painting Las Meninas (or Ladies in Waiting) with the dark wall and the figure peeking in through the doorway in the background.

Anthropomorphism was also a popular practice in Asian art, though more for symbolism than satire. In Korean culture, folktales often begin, “In the old days, when tigers smoked pipes...”, which is akin to the English "Once Upon a Time." In Shamanism, the tiger represents evil and the rabbit good. So, what is the rabbit smoking?

Bar Barber Ram, Michael Thomas

I found this print from the Society6 website, which sells art prints for decoration. It's definitely kitschy! The artist is a contemporary surrealist whose paintings seem like they're from another century. His titles include words like, 'Vintage' and 'Victorian'.

"Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my..."
(1899) by Howard and Emerson

My all-time favorite anthropomorphic cartoon character has to be Michigan J. Frog, from the Warner Bothers' Looney Tunes One Froggy Evening, created by animator Chuck Jones. And don't forget the alien reprise in the movie, Space Balls, starring Bill Pullman and John Candy. Classic!