Tigers and Other Wildcats in Art

 

by Mary-Ann Carlson

My longtime friend, Mary-Ann Carlson is an accomplished watercolorist. Recently, I caught up with her and she gifted me several prints of her masterpieces. This tiger painting got me wondering about artists famous for including tigers (and other wildcats) in their artwork.

Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised!)
(1891), Rousseau

Another of my favorite artists is Henri Rousseau. In his Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised!), we see a lavish tropical scene including bolts of white lightning and a somewhat hidden tiger about to pounce on its prey. The focus is on the gleaming head of the tiger, though I can't help looking toward the lower right at the solid dark green shape of the plant. he has balance the tree limb in the upper corner with the plant, as well as the hind end of the tiger with the red foliage. Because of the storm, the tone of the painting is quite dark, except for the highlight on the front half of the tiger in the foreground.

Sleeping Gypsy (1897), Rousseau

Probably his most famous work is the later Sleeping Gypsy in which a lion is prominently portrayed centrally in the composition. It feels somewhat surreal. His works were often judged as 'childish' by critics who thought the artist lacked training. The reclining figure appears stiff and unaware of the lion. Later though, he was acclaimed for his Post-Impressionist works.

Frida Kahlo and the Tiger,
Miller

I found this painting by David Miller, depicting artist, Frida Kahlo with a tiger across her lap. Although the artist herself never included tigers in her self-portraits, she did paint herself with monkeys. Her portraits were not only surreal but tended to go beyond the macabre.

Poised, Eric Wilson

Contemporary artist, Eric Wilson paints impressive animal portraits in watercolor, oil, and pastel. This one happens to be watercolor. I'd imagine that it is even more impressive in-person!

Royal Tiger (1829), Delacroix

Perhaps not as visually impressive is this lithograph by Eugène Delacroix. Many artists never actually saw wild animals in their native habitats, so they relied upon visits to zoos and maybe photographs. Still, like historic battles among human beings, artists spent their time researching, studying, and sketching before completing a painting. I also appreciate works in multiple media. His Tiger Lying in the Desert (1846) is less impressive as an etching!

African Amber - Lioness Pair (1980), Bateman

Canadian painter Robert Bateman is famous for painting wildlife, including birds, bears and wildcats. He was a teacher of art and Geography. Here he has captured two lionesses using largely amber tones. I did a two-day pastels class to teach the technique, and on the second day challenged my students to use a limited palette of black, white, light and dark brown, and gray. Nature is often its own camouflage.

Love is in the Air (2010), Brenders

Another wildlife artist is Belgian Naturalist and Painter, Carl Brenders. I liken his work to that of Byron Birdsall, whose work I featured in my March 2024 post entitled, Watercolor Artist/Teachers. Both artists also remind me of the TV show, Paint This with Jerry Yarnell. I particularly love his rendering of Milk Pelicans. Curiously, Jerry passed away in May 2024. Another great loss was TV personality, Bob Ross in 1995. Nicholas Hankins is now Ross' TV successor.

The Lion at Home (1881), Bonheur

French artist, Rosa Bonheur so loved her animals that she kept a family of lions at her home, often feeding them by hand. She passed away eight years after completing this painting. She would have enjoyed visiting the Olympic Game Farm Park in Sequim, WA.

Jungle Gentleman (1990), Shepherd

British artist David Shepherd, like many of the artists (above) posted here, was a bigtime conservationist. Besides wildlife, he also painted steam locomotives, aircraft, portraits, and landscapes. Apparently, tigers love the water and swim for several hours a day. I'm not sure why there is so much darkness on the right half of his painting. I imagine the moonlight is meant to illuminate the subject.

My Favorite Mountain Landscapes

Lower Yellowstone Falls (1881),
Albert Bierstadt

I seem to gravitate toward landscapes, both paintings and photographs. In March 2020, I posted Colorful Landscapes & Outdoor Photographs - Naturalism & Atmosphere. Then in April 2020, I followed with Spectacularly Scenic Grand Canyon, Arizona - Natural Wonder, documenting our road trip that included the fabulous Grand Canyon. I've already shared My Favorite Landscapes with Trees, from April 2023. Now it's time to focus on the subject of mountains in paintings. Prussian-born (1830-1902), German-American painter, Albert Bierstadt was part of the Western Expansion of the United States. Starting with his paintings of the Yosemite Valley in 1868, he was commissioned by the Railroad to paint the Grand Canyon and surrounding region. Having visited Yellowstone National Park in July 2024, I appreciate this dreamlike rendition of the falls.

Mountain Waterfall, Bob Ross

Atmospheric landscapes are difficult to get right, unless you're TV's Bob Ross, who makes it look easy. In The Joy of Painting, Ross was a master of capturing reflections and including happy little bushes that lived in his foregrounds. In May 2023, I posted about Reflections in Art.

Castle on Height near Geneva (1836), Turner

I love landscapes that have dramatic lighting and layering, hazy skies, and atmospheric effects to enhance depth. Such is the case with the painting of English Romantic painter and watercolorist  J. M. W. Turner (1775-1851). You can see his watercolor, Castle on Height near Geneva at the Art Institute of Chicago. He's buried in St. Paul's Cathedral next to Sir Joshua Reynolds, English painter to the King, who is famous for his portraits. Turner's last words were, "The sun is God".

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (1872), Moran

American painter, Thomas Moran (1837-1926), like Bierstadt, was part of the Hudson River School and studied the works of J.M.W. Turner. Moran's paintings imbue dramatic lighting and magnificent depth, as in The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. It's like he's leading you into a lost city of gold, out of an Indiana Jones movie!

Sea of Ice (1824), Friedrich

Not a mountain of rock, but a tower of ice, German Romantic Landscape painter, Caspar David Friedrich, captured this layered seascape of icebergs. It's both dramatic and unconventional!

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog
(1818), Friedrich

Friedrich's Wanderer above the Sea of Fog (1818) is another painting with layers of mountains, showing a rear-facing figure (Rückenfigur) of a man standing in silhouette atop a craggy rock and looking out over the mist. His composition is a rearranged view of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, a range bordering the state of Saxony in southeastern Germany and the North Bohemian region of the Czech Republic. 

The Hunters in the Snow (1565),
Pieter Bruegel the Elder

My favorite mountain landscape is this snow scene by Flemish Renaissance painter, Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The scene was contrived from Bruegel's memories, although there is no such mountain village in the Netherlands with such an Alpine view. A large framed print of this masterpiece hung for years in my Dad's accounting office at Price Waterhouse in New York City on 6th Avenue and the Avenue of the Americas. For a while I possessed it, but alas I don't remember what happened to it ;-(

Pattern and Repetition in Art

I'm inspired by the paisley and floral pattern in my wife's checkbook cover by designer Vera Bradley. Repetition of line, shape or color can be decorative, add harmony, or create movement or rhythm in a composition. Artists use repetition and pattern to create interest in their paintings. Patterns can be natural or organic, geometric, regular vs. irregular, or man-made.  It's also fun to doodle using Zentangles to create your own unique patterns. And, yes, there is organized doodling!

Sunflower Center

Natural or organic patterns may be found in nature, including symmetries, spirals, and fractals, often explained by mathematical principles. Some examples are the spiral of the exterior or interior of a seashell, flowers or the center of a sunflower, and the fur of animals such as leopards' spots. A pineapple is a natural example of a tessellation.

Broadway Boogie-Woogie (1942-43), Mondrian

Irregular patterns are used in the abstract art of Dutch painter Piet Mondrian. I used this example in teaching an art lesson to kindergarteners in which we used colored paper strips to create randomly patterned compositions.

Mondrian-inspired LINE Compositions

Students were limited to the number of strips (5) they could use, but they were allowed to cut them into any number of smaller lengths. They were allowed to overlap to create depth and negative space on the black background. Our discussion was however limited to talking about the art element of LINE. See Kindergarten Art Projects for more ideas.

Diamonds by Victor Vasarely

I tend to use Victor Vasarely and Mark Rothko artwork when teaching about geometric patterns. See my Op & Pop Artists post for more geometric patterns. Such diamond shapes may also help students understand the perspective angles of cubic volumes.

My 5th-graders created their own Op Art using carefully woven strips of contrasting colored paper and wavy lines. These were my own examples.

Metamorphosis II (1939-40), Escher

Although more organic, Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher famously created patterns, tessellations and optical illusions. His tessellations are really impressive, such as Metamorphosis II. One direction has birds, while the other has fish.

I love Escher's staircases, which remind me of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I wonder if his work inspired J.K. Rowling. 

Another category of patterns is man-made, which may be found in brick walls (~tessellations), buildings, and other architectural elements. I also enjoy seeing wallpaper patterns, though it is a bygone style of interior design that is often considered old-school.

Shantavia Beale II (2012), Wiley

I am in awe of the portraits painted by African American artist Kehinde Wiley. He uses natural and floral patterns as backgrounds for his beautiful portraits. This portrait is from his New Republic Exhibition, which I visited at the Seattle Art Museum in 2016. He has also painted portraits of the Obamas.

Floral Study in Gold (1907), Klimt

Austrian Symbolist Gustav Klimt used pattern to decorate his canvases, often surrounding figures of women and couples like Wiley does today. The spiral symbols evoke the Zentangles of today. His golden phase lasted from 1901-09. His favorite model was Adele Bloch-Bauer, much like Helga Testorf was for Andrew Wyeth. 

Andy Warhol, American Pop and Visual Artist, began his portfolio series on the subject of Marilyn Monroe in 1967, in which he repeatedly used the same publicity photo image of the iconic actress. While visiting the Palm Springs Museum of Art (PSAM) in 2018, Warhol's work was being exhibited there. Only the color scheme was varied.

Dessert: Harmony in Red (1908), Matisse

My favorite artist who successfully used pattern is French Fauvist, Henri Matisse. See my 2020 post entitled, Top 15 Paintings that Use Primary Colors -- Red, Yellow, and Blue. Notice how the tablecloth blends into the wallpaper in the background. Now that's taking a decorative element too far! I like it, but imagine living with that red on the walls of your home. You'd always be hungry!

Horse Art (Continued)

Napoleon Crossing the Alps (1802),
Jacques-Louis David

I'm revisiting the topic of Horse Art, which I published 4 years ago in Horse Art & Photography -- In Honor of the Kentucky Derby. Since watching the 2025 Preakness Stakes, and (of course) the Kentucky Derby, I am once again enamored with horse racing, the splendid spirited thoroughbreds, and the brightly-colored silks of the jockeys. This famous painting of Napoleon (with a red cape) leading his troop across the Alps currently hangs in the Palace of Versailles, where we visited in May 2011. You can see his troops riding on ahead of him in the distance, if you look under and through his horse. The Emperor was actually of average height (for a Frenchman), standing at 5'6.5".

Horse Fair (1855), Rosa Bonheur

On display at the National Gallery of London is Horse Fair by Rosa Bonheur. The tumultuous scene is dark with highlights focusing on the white horses and some of the figures leading the horses around. This is much more impressive in person!

At the Stables, Horse and Dog
(1882), Degas

French Impressionist, Edgar Degas painted this charming portrait of a couple of stablemates. I'm not confident that I've found the original painting, as many websites seem to be offering reproductions for sale. I like the warm color scheme and black details. The repetition of the horse's legs and the vertical post of the stall frame the composition. The white bridle and distant accessories bring your eye down toward the barn dog.

Encounter at the Horse Barn, Reichert

I also found this painting by Austrian realist, Carl Reichert, who painted many portraits of dogs and horses in his lifetime. He died in 1918 at the age of 81. Unfortunately, I am unable to find the date in which this was painted.

Two Riders on the Beach (1901), Liebermann

German artist Max Liebermann painted a pair of similar paintings while vacationing in Scheveningen on the North Sea. I love the waves on the water, the splash of the second horse, and the reflection of the legs in the puddle and in shadow on the sandy beach.

The Polo Game (1910), Bellows

George Bellows is best known for his action paintings of boxers and lesser known for his three paintings of polo matches. The scene is pretty chaotic! The large bank of clouds distracts me from the action happening on the field below. I think the white boundary line isn't necessary, unless the dog (?) and spectators are meant to frame the central pair of horses. The rider's white pants leg seems to merge with the body of the white horse.

A Start at Newmarket (1937), Munnings

A Start at Newmarket may have been a study for the painting by impressionist Sir Alfred Munnings. The horses are lining up for the start of a race. The details of both jockeys and horses is minimal, and suggests the tension, movement, and excitement mounting just before "They're off!". Little attention to detail was given to the dull sky and grass.

The Finish (1974), Neiman

American Expressionist Leroy Neiman painted this brightly colored portrait of three jockeys and their racehorses. It almost looks like a tryptic, with each jockey's silks and mounts contrasting with their backgrounds, dividing them into three columns separated by imaginary lines.

California Chrome (2021), Jon Patterson

I prefer my brother's horse paintings to any by these more famous artists. The ones he accomplished using MS Paint 3D are so impressive! I love the saturated colors and the movement. And the colorful dots in the background, representing the spectators in the grandstands watching the race. Magnificent!!

Above are some standalone portraits of horses by my brother, Jon: Zenyatta, Winx, and Street Cry. And these were done using a stylus and MS Paint 3D on a tablet!

Melancholy, Sadness, Grief, and Loneliness in Art

It's been almost one year since the passing of my wife of >40 years. Spring flowers, as discussed in my previous post, bring me joy and remind me of my lovely wife, whose birthday is in early April. On the flip side is the loneliness I'm experiencing, along with the sadness and grief of losing the love of my life.

The Honorable Mrs. Graham
(1777), Gainsborough

Thomas Gainsborough's portrait of The Honorable Mrs. Graham was commissioned by Mary's husband, Thomas, though she died a few years later of tuberculosis after he attentively cared for her throughout her illness. Sadly, he couldn't bring himself to look at her portrait after her death, and he lived for another 50 years. I may have seen this painting in the Scottish National Gallery when we visited Edinburgh in 2017.

Sorrowing Old Man (1890),
Van Gogh

Most of my favorite artists were Impressionists, with their soft, yet vibrant colors, peaceful landscapes, and portraits. Van Gogh's At Eternity's Gate (a.k.a. Sorrowing Old Man) shows a tired, worn-out man seated beside a warm hearth and possibly contemplating life after death in heaven. The chair resembles the one in the painting of Vincent's bedroom. I believe both men were residents of the asylum at St. Rémy, where Van Gogh spent the last two years of his life battling mental illness.

The Old Guitarist (1903), Picasso

In my post, Making Connections with Artists & Animals, I highlight Picasso's The Old Guitarist, which I like to use in my art lesson plans. It frequently appears in episodes of Bewitched, which I have watched repeatedly in reruns. It was hung rotated 90 degrees to the right to fit over the Stephens' fireplace. I like to ask my students which orientation is correct and which they like best. Picasso began to paint figures of the downtrodden (like this blind, poor guitarist) in response to the death of his close friend, Casagemas.

Christina's World (1948), Wyeth

Probably my favorite American Realist artist is Andrew Wyeth. In my post entitled, Farms and Barns by Famous Artists, he is described as "an actor being typecast for a specific role, who struggles to be recognized for his other works, and is forever remembered for a single character". Christina is a disabled young woman in a field of grass. You may recall his obsession with Helga, who was his most often painted model.

Nighthawks (1942), Hopper

In a repeated commercial for the Looney Tunes Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries series, the backgrounds that fly by remind me of the paintings of Edward Hopper. Nighthawks depicts a late-night diner with four lonely people. There's a takeoff painting with James Dean, Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis Presley as the soda jerk behind the counter. A Simpsons episode, "Homer and the 18th Amendment" also spoofs the famous painting.

Hotel Room (1931), Hopper

Automat (1927), Hopper

Many of Hopper's images are melancholic, especially Automat and the Hotel Room. In both paintings, a young woman is seated alone, one at a restaurant table at night, and the other in a small hotel room during the day. They share a similar color scheme, perspective, and strong contrast of light and dark.

The Scream (1895), Munch

Norwegian Expressionist Edvard Munch is often considered to be the melancholiest artist of all time. His paintings dealt primarily with death, as many of his family members suffered and died from lung disease such as tuberculosis and some of his subjects from polio and syphilis. He (like Van Gogh) also suffered from mental illness, probably from experiencing trauma early and throughout his life. The Scream is sometimes referred to as the Mona Lisa of its time and is clearly one of his most recognizable works. I didn't realize that it was pastel-on-board. Apparently, in 2012, it sold for $120M. It is also considered to be his self-portrait, that of a mad man, although he has painted the figure asexually and almost inhuman, like a space alien.

Pocket Poodles (1962), Keane

The final painting I want to share is by 'Big-Eye' artist Margaret Keane, whose second husband tried to take credit for her paintings (Can you believe that!?). Tim Burton's 2014 biopic, Big Eyes starred Amy Adams as the blonde artist. Pocket Poodles (1962) is a portrait of a sad young girl holding two small dogs. You may find such portraits cute, but I think they're a little creepy. In my grief journey, I am blessed to have the comfort of my own two Shih-Tzu fur babies, without whom I'd be lost!