Animal Representation in Art During Different Time Periods

Animal Representation in Art During Different Time Periods

Fine Art – Exhibition Project

Word Count: 7428

List of Figures

Fig 1. Page 9, Installation Shot 1 (View from entering gallery from right hand door, featuring Unknown – ‘Anubis Shrine of Tutankhamun’ (18th Dynasty))

Fig 2. Page 10, Installation Shot 2 (View from the left of the right-hand door, featuring Unknown – ‘Four Egyptian Canopic Jars’ (21st to 22nd Dynasty))

Fig 3. Page 11, Installation Shot 3 (View of far back corner, right side, featuring Euphronios –‘Greek Kylix’ (Before 500 B.C.))

Fig 4. Page 12, Installation Shot 4 (View of back wall, far right-hand side, featuring Unknown – ‘Bull Leaping’ (1400 c. B.C.))

Fig 5. Page 13, Installation Shot 5 (View from right hand side of the room, opposite Fig 3 and to the right of Fig 1, featuring Unknown - ‘Greek Hydria’ (6th c. B.C.))

Fig 6. Page 14, Installation Shot 6 (View of the back wall on the right-hand side, featuring Unknown - ‘Lion’ (After 1200))

Fig 7. Page 15, Installation Shot 7 (View of the back wall on the left-hand side, featuring Unknown - ‘Vanity sounds the horn and ignorance unleashes the hounds of overconfidence, rashness and desire’ (1500-1525))

Fig 8. Page 16, Installation Shot 8 (View from the right-hand side of the left door, featuring Jeff Koons – ‘Balloon Dog’ (1994))

Fig 9. Page 17, Installation Shot 9 (View of far back corner, left side, featuring Jane Shaw‘love to live – boxing hares’)

Fig 10. Page 18, Installation Shot 10 (View of left-hand side wall, to right of Fig 11, featuring Charming Baker - ‘Oh what will be made of the mess we have made’ (2010))

Fig 11. Page 18, Installation Shot 11 (View of left-hand side wall, far left, featuring Charming Baker - ‘Have we replaced everything we’ve lost with something else’ (2013))

Fig 12. Page 17, Installation Shot 12 (View from left hand side of the left door, featuring Jane Shaw - ‘speed – racing greyhound’)

Abstract

This exhibition will look at works from the Ancient Egyptian and Greek periods, Medieval times, and the present-day Contemporary period. The intention of this exhibition is to inspire audiences to look at previous generation’s perspectives and views on animals and their roles in their societies, as well as the previous techniques that were used by artists during those times. The ideas and meanings behind each work during each time period will be compared. Each time period had a specific way of using animals to convey these ideas through the use of symbolism and imagery.

Another focus that curating this exhibition will hope to achieve is bringing awareness back to animals and their importance to our natural world and personal lives. This is particularly relevant today due to the current climate crisis and the mass extinction of many species of animals.

Introduction

Animals play a big part in every human’s life whether they realise it or not. We are surrounded by plethora’s of different animals every day, from the wildlife outside of our homes; in woods, rivers or in the garden; to our pets who are our companions in our homes and are always with us. “The survival of humans as a species is intimately linked to the wellbeing of ecosystems and the resources they provide” (Depledge, M.H. and Galloway, T.S. (2005)).

The exhibition I am planning is going to look at the representation of animals in art through various time periods in history. The topic of animals has always fascinated me and for my project last year, I looked at animals and symbolism in my work and how people visualise these animals to represent themes. I realised there were many artworks in both the past and present that explore this symbolism or the representation of animals. This was further motivated by my visit to several museums in Berlin last year, while on a study trip, where many artworks portraying animals were displayed across many different time periods which were present within the same museum.

It’s interesting to look at all of these works together and see how the art has changed in both style and meaning over the centuries and how people from the past lived alongside animals. The exhibition will be about comparing the work through specific time periods in history; from ancient Egypt and Greece to the historical paintings from the medieval times to the work that we know today; this is crucial as “art from the past holds clues to life in the past” (Kristen (2012)).

The exhibition aims to bring these artworks from different times together into one space, to show the differences in the style, techniques, and meanings behind the works. I also hope that while letting audiences explore the diverse history and ideas behind the works, they will foster new ways of thinking, while letting the audience learn about world history and see how opinions and narratives on animals have changed over the centuries. “We also can compare artwork, which provides different perspectives, and gives us a well-rounded way of looking at events, situations and people” (Kristen (2012)).

Chapter One

Importance of Animals

Animals are an integral part of nature and our lives. They are highly important for our planet’s ecosystems and to keep them alive. They do this in countless ways, with many species playing very different roles. Pollinators, for instance, are of vital importance to both wild and cultivated plants, with them being a crucial factor in the production of crops like fruit. “Not only plant sexual reproduction is assured, but yields are also stabilized and seed genetic diversity is preserved, preventing inbreeding depression and enhancing system resilience” (Singh, A. and Adhikary, T. (2022)). The most famous and important pollinators are bees, specifically honeybees and wild bees: “bees are the most effective because of their high flower reliability and flower constancy” (Matias, D.M.S. et al. (2017)). Bees are essential to human survival as they help to provide food and other necessities humans need to thrive, while still benefiting plants and habitats. “More than 1300 plant species are thought to be grown for fruit, drinks, medicines, condiments, spices and even cloth... Animal pollinate around 75% of these species” (Singh, A. and Adhikary, T. (2022)).

Every animal, including humans, play a part in the food chain. Food chains are systems where one organism eats another, i.e., predators eating prey. This means the energy from the prey will be given to whatever animal consumes it (National Geographic (2019)). This continues as that animal is then consumed by another. “Each food chain is a possible pathway that energy and nutrients can follow through the ecosystem” (National Geographic (2019)). Everything plays a role in the food chain with there being many levels to it. Starting with autotrophs which are mainly plants that produce food for themselves, to primary consumers which are normally herbivores that will eat the autotrophs (National Geographic (2019)). Higher level consumers or carnivores will then eat the primary consumers, this is where humans fall on the food chain (National Geographic (2019)). Finally, detritivores and decomposers will eat dying or dead organisms and will obtain nutrients from them, completing the cycle (National Geographic (2019)). Without these food chains nothing would be able to survive, they are vital to our world. “Food chains also display what happens when a problem occurs, and a producer or consumer is lost. Entire communities can collapse” (Admin (2021)).

Another important factor of animals is how they can affect humans emotionally. Pets are a big part of many people’s lives with people taking care of them, feeding them, and playing with them. People often think of pets as their friend, companion or family as they can be loyal and protective towards their owners, while also being a constant in the owner’s life giving them a sense of security (Archer, J. (1999)). For example, dogs are known to be loyal and affectionate, being given the nickname of ‘man’s best friend’. This nickname seems to have originated from King Frederick II of Prussia in 1786 (Scone Palace (2023)). It showed the great devotion that the King had developed towards his dogs. “The only, absolute and best friend a man has in this selfish world, the only one that will not betray or deny him, is his dog” (Scone Palace (2023)). More recently pets have been playing an even more important role in many people’s emotional state. They have been linked to decreased levels of depression in pet owners, with the pets decreasing the number of suicides that were due to depression (Friedmann, E., Thomas, S. A., & Son, H. (2011)). They have been noted to decrease the likelihood of people with depression contemplating suicide (Friedmann, E., Thomas, S. A., & Son, H. (2011)). The bond between humans and pets is a mutually beneficial one, with good outcomes for both the pet and owner. However, for people more than just depression symptoms can be mitigated. “Benefits for: social attention, social behaviour, interpersonal interactions, and mood; stress related parameters” (Beetz, A. et al. (2012)). Another reason for the decreased amount of stress and depression might be due to a hormone called oxytocin (Beetz, A. et al. (2012)). This hormone is known as the ‘love hormone’ as it’s produced by the body when people are happy, excited and in love, while increasing relaxation and trust in a person (LeWine, H.E. (2023)).

Pets are playing a larger role in the emotional state of owners than ever before due to the effects of Covid-19. “Post Covid-19 depressive symptoms have been reported in around 35% of patients in short, medium and long term follow up” (Mazza, M.G. et al. (2022)). During this time many of us were stuck in our homes, living with family or friends, or in some cases being isolated during the lockdown. A study has shown that owning pets, while not replacing the bonds of family, friends or co-workers, has been seen to show a decreased level of ‘emotional loneliness’ when it comes to romantic relationships (Ogata, N., Weng, H.-Y. and Messam, L.L.McV. (2023)), showing that while people still want to be social with people they know, their pets have filled the space of closer connections.

Brief History of Animals in Art

Animals have been around in the art world since the beginning, with them first being discovered drawn on cave walls by cavemen (Gilmor, R. (2015)). Since animals are such a crucial part of our lives and world, it makes sense that artists would want to paint and sculpt them. The cave drawings often showed animals that the cavemen regularly associated with and would use for things like food, making cloth as well as many other useful tools that they would use in order to help them to survive (Gilmor, R. (2015)). “This allows them to achieve a greater depth in their composition through the simple inclusion of a dog, cat, or even more exotic creatures” (Burke, D. (2023)). The art surrounding animals then took a turn towards symbolism as well as starting to appear in religious works (Gilmor, R. (2015)). They became symbols for many things, like beings such as Gods and monsters or more literal meanings like loyalty or freedom. “Their personification in fables and morality tales is so common that we still accept them as symbols of human behaviour. Because many cultures through the ages have regarded specific animals as emblems of power and the supernatural” (Mansi, M. (2023)). Popular animals to portray were dogs, who were shown to be a loyal companion and would often appear in paintings with couples or women to show their loyalty to their partner (Burke, D. (2023)). Cats were used to show the opposite, however, in some paintings they had them depicting desire (Burke, D. (2023)). They could also be representative of depressing scenes and be associated with death due to their predatory nature. All of these meant that cats were symbolic of unpredictability due to the widely different depictions that were used of them (Burke, D. (2023)).

Art over time has gradually leaned more towards being scientific, with artists being used to accurately replicate the animals that were being researched at the time by scientists (Gilmor, R. (2015)). As more research was done into these animals over the centuries, this led to very detailed and accurate images of each of them. “It was from the more scientific approach to the study of animals in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that wildlife art as we know it has developed” (Gilmor, R. (2015)). Another notable stage in the change of style, when it came to animal art, was when artists decided to go for a less traditional approach in their work and instead focused more on composition and the design of their work (Gilmor, R. (2015)). This has led to the style you see in modern-day animal art, with most of the work focusing on the ideas and stories behind the animal. “Interest in its character, how it belongs

in its often-tiny share of habitat, the impression it creates, the pattern of a group, some aspect of its behaviour, or simply the artists sheer enjoyment of the encounter” (Gilmor, R. (2015)). It is interesting how the artwork has taken a turn back to its roots and focuses again on symbolism and the ideas behind having the animal in the work, instead of focusing on displaying it accurately to the audience that will view it.

Impact of Animal Symbolism in Art

Animals have always been commonly used in art through the use of symbolism. This has benefitted artists as it has allowed them to show ideas easily or to create more complex ones by just including a single animal. These animals will help to create interesting atmospheres and bring deeper meaning to the paintings that they occupy as they are a great visual tool (Mitchell, M. (2023)). Animals are used to symbolise many things, from nature to meanings and the ideas that the animals depicted in the art often display (Muir, A. (2023)). Artists have also been known to create ideas for what they wanted to represent (Mitchell, M. (2023)). Another way they are used is as a replacement for people in artworks or in stories as there is such a strong link between humans and animals in our world. Animals in works are important and with them being used for symbolism, they can create very powerful images that can inspire and make people think about the natural world around us (Muir, A. (2023)).

The exhibition will comprise time periods which all include the use of animal symbolism in the artworks that have been chosen. In the Ancient Egyptian period, animals were used to depict quite a few different things as they valued the animals around them. They were often used to represent human like figures, such as Gods, while in other cases they were used to show positive or powerful attributes (User Created (2023)). Pets were also used as symbols and were thought to be from the Gods, meaning that their owners would treat them with the upmost respect and care until the animal passed away, where it would then be buried using traditional mumification (Mark, J.J. (2022)). Animals were also used as symbols for death, particularly dogs that would guard them on into the afterlife.

In the Ancient Greek period, there were a lot of similarities to how the Ancient Egyptian’s had depicted animals in their period, like their similar representation of Gods or human-like figures. However, the Greeks also used animals to create myths of these fictional creatures. These creatures all had similarities to real life animals as they had obviously taken inspiration from the world and nature around them to be included in their tales, giving them a sense of realness, and creating stories that seemed to be more based in reality (Exarchopoulos, S. (2023)). The Greeks lived alongside animals and took a lot of inspiration from them day to day, causing them to have great bonds to both their pets and wild animals that they lived alongside (Leonard, J. (2019)).

In the Medieval period, animals were used more practically and were used to add grandeur and elegance to a piece of work (Boehm, B.D. and Holcomb, M. (2001)). They were also added for the opposite reason of making the piece more humorous (Boehm, B.D. and Holcomb, M. (2001)). A popular trend of artwork was to illustrate hunts, with many different animals being included in these images such as falcons, deer, hunting dogs and even unicorns. Their use was to show the power and wealth of the people involved in the hunt. There were also hidden meanings behind each of the animals, with deer, specifically stags, being used in these hunts to explain the trials and tribulations in a person’s life (Boehm, B.D. and Holcomb, M. (2001)). Animals were also often used for religious symbolism in religious works. Some were described in stories to teach lessons and rules whereas, others were used for symbols, such as the lamb. The lamb was used for religious sacrifice which drew many connections to stories in the bible, eventually leading to acts like sacrifice having double meanings and depicting figures such as Christ (Boehm, B.D. and Holcomb, M. (2001)).

Finally, in the modern Contemporary period, animals are still being used as symbols and to represent deeper meanings. However, a lot of the artwork and its symbolism is now directed towards nature and its destruction (Tiza (2023)), as that is a pressing topic in this day and age. With animals like lions and tigers still being used in work to symbolise their impressive nature and power, while having a deeper meaning of weakness due to these animals being endangered and showing how even the strong can be weak and suffer. “They are also symbols of the fragility of our planet” (Tiza (2023)). Other Contemporary art that uses animals, shows the beauty of nature and its animals to audiences and the connections that

humans have to animals, such as pets, and to explore how artists and the public perceive them.

Chapter Two

Artists and Their Artworks

There will be 10 different artworks in my exhibition, ranging from sculpture and ceramics to paintings. The artworks that will be focused on will be from the Ancient Egyptian and Greek periods to Medieval times and finally the modern-day contemporary works.

1. Unknown – ‘Anubis Shrine of Tutankhamun’ (18th Dynasty), wood, stucco, tar, gold, silver, calcite and obsidian, 273.5 x 63.7 x 50.7cm

The first artworks that I would want to display in the exhibition are those from Ancient Egyptian times One well-known Egyptian figure is that of Anubis, the God of death. The particular sculpture that will be included in the exhibition, is one that is on a casket in the tomb of Tutankhamun. This statue was created from wood that had stucco and tar lined around it, with gold being used for the statue’s details, such as its eyes and ears (Egypt Museum (2023)). Anubis is also the God of mummification and guards the tombs (Egypt Museum (2023)), which would explain why this statue is in the tomb and on a casket.

“Anubis helped to judge the dead and he and his army of messengers were charged with

Figure 1

punishing those who violated tombs or offended the Gods (Mark, J.J. (2023)). The statue is mainly coloured black due to black supposedly signifying the decaying of a body, as well as being the soil around the Nile that symbolised life and regeneration (Mark, J.J. (2023)). The statue seems to have been put on the lid of the casket to warn people against opening it.

2. Unknown – ‘Four Egyptian Canopic Jars’ (21st to 22nd Dynasty), limestone, 34.5 x 14 x 14cm

The second work that I would display in the exhibition, are four canopic jars from the Neues museum in Berlin. These four jars are made out of limestone and depict the heads of a human, jackal, falcon, and baboon. These four different heads represent the four sons of Horus, who was a God meant to protect the dead (Staatliche Museum (2023)). In the past, they would have contained organs, with each of the four jars holding a different organ. “The four deities were assigned to an organ: Amset – liver, Hapi – lung, Duamutef – stomach, Kebehsenuef – intestines” (Staatliche Museum (2023)). It is interesting how much care was given to preserving a person’s organs and that the jars used to do so were depicted as mostly animals. It shows how much respect the Egyptians had for these animals, and how much trust was put onto them, even if it was just due to the animals being used to depict the Gods.

Figure 2

They have many interesting connections to the ancient Greek work, as during these periods there was a lot of overlap of stories and myths between the two. A surprising amount of art which uses animals, is art that depicts Egyptian Gods as the Egyptians had an appreciation for the look and skills of animals and wanted to let their Gods emulate these traits (Reading Museum (2023)).

The next artworks that would be featured in the exhibition are from Ancient Greece. Works from this time, that have survived to the modern day, lean towards being more sculptural as the ancient Greeks were famous for making many different types of ceramics. They were especially fond of pottery, that was both decorative as well as functional. Famous examples of these ceramics are red figure painting style pottery pieces. The red figure style replaced a previous style called the black figure style. This involved coating a piece of ceramic in black varnish, with the details and figures in the piece being left uncovered and keeping the original red colour of the clay (Laisné, C. (1995)).

Figure 3

3. Euphronios – ‘Greek Kylix’ (Before 500 B.C.), clay, black figure, 17 x 43cm

The first work from the Ancient Greek period shows Orthus, a dog-like creature with multiple heads, that was depicted in a cup (Kylix) that was created by Euphronios prior to 500 B.C. (Syropoulos, S.D. (2018)). The cup displays Geryon, who was a human-like monster and the master of Orthus as well as Hercules, with Orthus lying injured at his feet (Syropoulos, S.D. (2018)). Dogs or dog-like monsters were used a lot in Greek mythology in order to protect places or items. He protected cattle with his owner showing that even in ancient times, dogs were still depicted as being protectors that were loyal to humans or figures depicting humans. An interesting observation is that this is reflective of the Ancient Egyptian period where Anubis was depicted as a dog, which helps to guard humans, which is similar to two artworks that I chose from the Ancient Greek period.

4. Unknown – ‘Bull Leaping’ (1400 c. B.C.), fresco, stucco panel, 78.2 x 104.5cm

The second artwork for the Ancient Greek section is one of the wall paintings of the palace of Knossos, which was the palace of King Minos during the Minoan period in Ancient Greece (Knossos Palace (2024)). The painting “includes a scene of a bull leaping, in which one figure grasps the bull’s horns while another somersaults over its back, a third stands ready to catch him” (Stafford, E. (2004)). This painting does a great job of showing the strength of a bull, as it depicts the bull as this big strong creature, that even with three people jumping on and over it, it doesn’t slow down. The bull is also much bigger than the humans depicted and

Figure 4

looks like it is “charging with such force that its front and back legs are in midair” (German, Dr.S. (2023)). The painting however does still find a way to make the humans depicted appear on the same level as this ferocious animal, by having them almost effortlessly vaulting over the bull.

5

5. Unknown - ‘Greek Hydria’ (6th c. B.C.), clay, black figure, 43 x 43cm

The third artwork is a 6th century B.C. pottery piece (Hydria) detailing Cerberus, a threeheaded dog which has snakes protruding from the dog’s paws, being given from Hercules to Eurystheus (Syropoulos, S.D. (2018)). Cerberus is one of the most famous and recognisable monsters due to his depiction. He in many ways shares a lot of similarities with Orthus, including the multiple heads and was again a dog-like creature. He was mostly depicted as a three-headed dog, who guarded the entrance to the underworld and was a part in Hercules’ twelve trials. Being the last and most dangerous trial, where Hercules was tasked with retrieving Cerberus and dragging him back to Eurystheus (Laisné, C. (1995)).

Other works to be included are Medieval works, which are quite separate from both the Greek and Egyptian periods A considerable amount of the art in Medieval times were paintings and architecture, specifically based in churches or using religious symbolism (Invaluable (2020)). Expensive materials were often used in these pieces such as gold

Figure

(Invaluable (2020)), possibly to show how highly valued these pieces were to people or to make them stand out in a church.

6. Unknown - ‘Lion’ (After 1200), fresco and canvas 332.7 x 335.3cm

The first work ‘Lion’ is a Spanish piece made after 1200 (The Met (2023)). It was painted on canvas and was made with fresco (The Met (2023)), which is a technique that uses a waterbased paint to paint onto wet plaster, making the paint a permanent part of the plaster (Tate (2023)). The painting depicts the lion in an interesting way, as it is in no way visually or anatomically correct to what a lion should look like. This has a similarity to the way Greek artists in the Ancient Greek period would draw exotic animals, including lions, in a unique way as the artist had never seen one in real life and may only have heard about them in stories (Syropoulos, S.D. (2018)). Even though the painting is not accurate, the painter has obviously tried to show the ferociousness of this lion in their work. “With his muscles taut, his fur standing on end, and his gaze intense, the artist conveyed the power of this snarling big cat” (The Met (2023)). It is interesting how the lion image has changed over time, as viewers now would possibly not find this image of the lion to be ferocious and would instead find the lion silly.

Figure 6

7

7. Unknown - ‘Vanity sounds the horn and ignorance unleashes the hounds of overconfidence, rashness and desire’ (1500-1525), wool wrap, wool, silk wefts and wool yarn 299.7 x 381cm

The second work is called “Vanity sounds the horn and ignorance unleashes the hounds of overconfidence, rashness and desire” and is a piece completed in the south of the Netherlands between 1500 – 1525 (The Met (2023)). The tapestry piece shows a hunting party chasing a stag. This piece was meant to inform people about the things that life will throw at man to stop him from continuing forward (The Met (2023)). “Man is depicted here as "the fragile stag" bounding through the woods. The stag is being hunted by Desire, Rashness, and Overconfidence, the hunting dogs set loose by Ignorance… another courtly lady, Vanity, who sounds the hunting horn” (The Met (2023)). It is interesting that in the medieval period it shows humans hunting, as previously in both the Egyptian and Greek they have respect for them, as they could represent gods or terrifying creatures. It is almost as if in the medieval period they could only see animals as something to be killed or used. Yet again, dogs are also used and are depicted as being loyal and helpful to humans.

The final works in the exhibition are the more modern-day contemporary artworks, that break away from the ideas of the previous periods. They focus more on depicting pets and showing wildlife than hunts, Gods, or creature-like animals. Meanwhile, they also use a

Figure

variety of mediums to do this. Many also try to show what is happening in the modern world, and how pets and wildlife are affected in the eyes of the artist.

8. Jeff Koons – ‘Balloon Dog’ (1994), stainless steel and transparent colour coating, 307.3 x 363.2 x 114.3cm

The first work of the modern period that I want to include is, Jeff Koons ‘Balloon Dogs’ These works are extremely popular and are still vividly recognisable to this day. The original Balloon Dog was made in 1994 and was a large sculpture composed of stainless steel and coated with a coloured translucent coat, of simple well-known colours (Koons, J. (2023)). The work is very straightforward, which lets the mind wander to what it could symbolise with people saying that there is a weird feeling due to it depicting a fragile object, that is mainly given to kids to play with, yet it is a large and heavy sculpture instead (Trancart, F.-X. (2022)). It is interesting to think about the almost fragile nature of this piece and the dog that the sculpture shows as it could represent the shorter life span of dogs compared to their human counterparts. Koons also utilises the use of size in his work to make the viewer feel uneasy seeing the sculptures, as a Balloon Dog is an object that is not normally in a gallery setting (Trancart, F.-X. (2022)).

Figure 8

10. Charming Baker - ‘Oh what will be made of 11. Charming Baker - ‘Have we replaced everything the mess we have made’ (2010), oil and linen, we’ve lost with something else’ (2013), oil and 132 x 112cm acrylic, 198 x 153cm

The final works in the modern day that will be included in my exhibition are paintings done by an artist named Charming Baker. His works ‘Oh what will be made of the mess we have made’ done in 2010 and ‘Have we replaced everything we’ve lost with something else’ done in 2013 are both paintings done on linen using primarily oil paint (Baker, C. (2023)). Baker creates realistic paintings of animals, but always seems to include an almost sinister or intriguing twist to them, revealing the relationship between animals and humans. With his 2010 piece of a zebra, it has a red handprint on its body, almost branding the impact that humans have had on ecosystems and wild animals, due to humans killing wildlife and destroying habits for personal gain. Whereas, his 2013 piece depicts a dog and baby, with a blurred-out shadow behind them, almost in the shape of another dog, possibly to symbolise either the short amount of time that humans get to spend with their pets in comparison to their lifespan, or how easily something like a pet can be replaced by kids or even another pet. Baker also destroys parts of his paintings by “drilling, cutting and even shooting it” (Baker, C. (2023)), this adds to the uneasiness of the paintings, by showing the real-life destruction that Baker has done to his pieces.

Figure 10

Figure 11

Curatorial Decisions

The image above is the final layout of the exhibition, with the failed layouts being in the appendix. These layouts failed due to them not looking or fitting the room in a suitable way or not being able to lead the audience through the exhibition in a coherent fashion for them to experience the artworks.

The exhibition hopes to lead the viewer through time via the artworks that were chosen. The room has two entrances or exits that allows viewers to start at either the most modern Contemporary works or the oldest, being the Egyptian works. The layout hopes to encourage people to view the artworks in sections that relate to their time periods. Showing the artworks by their time period seeks to show how the styles and techniques of the artworks have changed through the centuries as well as the ideas that the artworks are conveying to the audience with the sections being able to help show these differences. The exhibition will first start with 1. Unknown – ‘Anubis Shrine of Tutankhamun’ (18th Dynasty), which will immediately catch the viewers’ attention when they enter the room, due to its size and length cutting across the room. The black and gold of the Anubis statue on the casket also helps to make it eye catching with them contrasting with the more neutral tones of the casket and poles to carry it. The casket will also be held in a case for preservation and security reasons, again helping it to have a bigger presence in the room.

The next artworks are 2. Unknown – ‘Four Egyptian Canopic Jars’ (21st to 22nd Dynasty), which will be positioned to the right-hand side of the door. These jars will be in a case, again to help with the preservation of the jars due to their age. The case will allow the jars to be up off of the floor and at eye-level for the viewer allowing for easy access to view the work and its details without having to crouch or go at an awkward angle to view. The jars are positioned next to the ‘Anubis Shrine of Tutankhamun’ to show the variety of artworks including animals that are involved in the burial process in Ancient Egypt, while also showing how vastly different the detail and colours on the works are, either based on the wealth of the person or on the maker of the pieces, during this period.

3. Euphronios – ‘Greek Kylix’ (Before 500 B.C.) is the first of the Greek works and is positioned next to the ‘Four Egyptian Canopic Jars’ to encourage viewers to look at this work next. This work will introduce the familiar and signature style of the Greek period through

pottery. Due to the age of this work, it will also be in a case, just like the previous two works, again allowing it to be at an ideal height for the audience and letting it compliment the height of the other aforementioned cases.

The next Greek work will be the 4. Unknown – ‘Bull Leaping’ (1400 c. B.C.), which introduces a different style in the Greek period that was not pottery. This piece will be hanging on the far back right-hand corner of the wall just past ‘Greek Hydria’ and will stand out to the viewers through the use of the bright blue in the piece, as all of the other Greek works are a mix of golds and blacks. It will also be the first 2-dimensional piece in the exhibition and will show much more realism about Ancient Greece and the sports that they used to do, instead of their myths and stories. Its position in the corner will allow for controlled lighting, meaning that the painting can hang on the wall without a protective case to cover it.

The last Greek work will be 5. Unknown - ‘Greek Hydria’ (6th c. B.C.) which will be in a case to the left of ‘Bull Leaping’ and across from ‘Greek Kylix’, creating a small section in the back right-hand side corner for the Greek artworks in which the viewers can navigate through to see all of the works from the period. It is again in a case to protect the work while also elevating it to an appropriate height, whilst its positioning is important as it leads the audience in the intended direction for the exhibition and without it, viewers may skip over the Ancient Greek section to move onto other works. The ‘Greek Hydria’ goes back to the signature ceramic style of Ancient Greece as well as its stories.

The Medieval works first start off with 6. Unknown - ‘Lion’ (After 1200). This painting is placed on a partition wall in front of the Bow window (the curved bay window). Due to the height and length of the piece the partition will be quite tall, resulting in the windows either having very restricted light that could get through or the blinds on the window being closed due to the audience being incapable of seeing out of them. The piece is also positioned here as the window is in the centre of the back wall and creates this small separate space, which will allow the work to be slightly away from the rest of the artworks in the exhibition allowing it to show off the full scale while not impeding any of the other works.

The second Medieval piece that will be exhibited is 7. Unknown - ‘Vanity sounds the horn and ignorance unleashes the hounds of overconfidence, rashness and desire’ (1500-1525).

It will be to the left of ‘Lion’ in the Bow window space and will show the difference in style and detail. The ‘Lion’ painting looks almost goofy in its painting style, due to the painter not portraying what a lion actually looked like and working from descriptions resulting in an embellished depiction. Whereas the tapestry is much more realistic as hunts were a very common occurrence and it instead focuses on hidden meanings in the work. These two paintings together allow comparison to one another and are very impactful and compliment the space well as they are both to such a large scale.

The last time period to be exhibited is the Modern Contemporary period, with the first work being 8. Jeff Koons – ‘Balloon Dog’ (1994). This work will be positioned opposite the Medieval works, on the front wall to the left of ‘Anubis Shrine of Tutankhamun’ and to the right of the second door. Its size and bright blue colour will immediately attract viewers attention as they turn away from the Medieval period along with the unusual media. The simplicity of the work will let the audience’s minds relax from the previous artwork’s details and meanings, while still being an interesting piece of work due to the style change going into the Contemporary period. ‘Balloon Dog’ also creates this space between it and ‘Anubis Shrine of Tutankhamun’, where viewers can sit and admire the scale and detail of the two works next to them, while also getting a distanced a view of the Medieval works.

The next work will be 9. Jane Shaw - ‘love to live – boxing hares’ which is to the left of ‘Vanity sounds the horn and ignorance unleashes the hounds of overconfidence, rashness and desire’. This works leads the audience to the left-hand side wall of the room towards the rest of the Contemporary works. The sculpture will sit on a plinth so that it is at appropriate eye-level for the viewer, while showing off its dynamic sculpt and shape. The smaller scale of the piece will also allow viewers to view the details and to get a feeling of how the animals would move in real life.

10. Charming Baker - ‘Oh what will be made of the mess we have made’ (2010), will be to the left-hand side wall to the left of ‘love to live – boxing hares’. The painting is very accurate in its depiction of the zebra that is shown, unlike the lion in ‘Lion’. It reminds the viewer of current world problems, such as habitat destruction and poaching showing the impact that humans have had. It is a piece that has a very different message than works in the previous periods, creating an intriguing mix of ideas and meanings to each of the works.

11. Charming Baker - ‘Have we replaced everything we’ve lost with something else’ (2013) is another painting by Baker that is to the left of the last painting. It again brings up very modern problems to do with animals, but on a much more personal level by using pet dogs to depict its meaning.

The final work in the exhibition is another work by Shaw, 12. Jane Shaw - ‘speed – racing greyhound’, this sculpture is on the front wall to the left of the left-hand side door, with it being the last thing that the audience will see when they leave. Similar to Shaw’s other work, it is quite small and simplistic giving the viewer a break from finding all of the hidden meanings behind the work. It is also quite a humorous piece, contrasting with Baker’s paintings that are right beside it.

Chapter Three

Venue

For the exhibition, I believe the artworks would benefit from being in a museum space, as all of the works apart from the Contemporary works would have been stored or displayed in spaces like museums. The museum and art gallery I chose for the exhibition is the Kelvingrove museum in Glasgow, which is a very old museum built in 1901 with a traditional layout with some very intricate and grand architecture, (Kelvingrove Art Gallery and museum (2023)) as well as having similar pieces in the styles and time periods of the artworks I have chosen, such as Egyptian works. The feel of the old, but still grand, building that the museum and its galleries are set in, would create an atmosphere that would benefit the exhibition as it would suit all the artworks from past time periods as well as adding an interesting look to the modern contemporary works.

I specifically chose Kelvingrove as the venue for my exhibit as it was the museum I went to the most as a child and holds a lot of significance in my life, particularly when I was younger. It’s also the first museum that I picture when thinking about museums since it was such an integral one for my development with vast amount of works and artworks in its collection. Kelvingrove museum is also recognised to be the best museum in Scotland, due to its sizeable collection with over 400 works in its collection and the number of visitors it

receives, with it being the top visited museum not in London (Kelvingrove Art Gallery and museum (2023)).

There’s a specific room in the museum that I have chosen. It’s one of eight identical rooms, with four being on each floor as the museum has a symmetrical layout They are some of the smallest rooms in the museum and if I were to have chosen any of the others there would likely be a lot of empty space due to the scale of the main rooms and corridors. The room consists of a high ceiling, decent width, two doorways and an extensive Bow window in one of the walls. (Image of room is included in section 1.2 of the appendix)

Intended Audience

The audience that is intended for this exhibition would be a mix of different people, ranging from children to the elderly. Children love animals and often go to museums or zoos to learn about them, as viewing animals will educate the child on nature as well as teaching things like compassion and empathy (Parenta and Name (2021)). There will be lots of family groups that would attend the exhibit, due to parents wanting their child to learn and the child being very curious and enjoying the subject matter of the artworks. This would create a great family day trip. Similarly, animal and history lovers might be curious as to how animals were depicted in previous periods and the similarities and differences in the treatment towards them.

Another group of people that the exhibition would interest are artists. With a wide range of styles in the works, you would have many artists interested in viewing to look at the different techniques used throughout history, while also getting to see artworks that aren’t usually seen together. The range of works would attract more of the general public that might not be so interested in the more modern contemporary work, as they would see a range of different styles that would appeal to many different tastes in art.

Additionally, many schools within travel distance would attend to compare and contrast artworks to regard the different styles and imagine how they could incorporate them into their own work. Younger children could also visit and do a “treasure hunt” of the artwork where the simplistic representation of some of the animal artworks may appeal to them.

It would also get a large amount of footfall from the general public due to Kelvingrove being such a busy and popular museum as well as it being based in the centre of Glasgow.

Chapter Four

Curation Influences

Animals are a very significant portion of the art world, whether it be commercially or in exhibitions and galleries. However, there is a shortage of exhibitions that truly show both the old and new in ideas. Ancient or old artworks with animal symbolism are left on display at museums next to hundreds of other artifacts and artworks. Meanwhile, the new Contemporary works are limited to new exhibition spaces with barley any overlap between the two. I want to highlight the importance of the history of these works, and what past generations thought of and perceived animals, with the current generation’s thoughts, ideas and outlooks on animals in the world. “Looking at art from the past contributes to who we are as people. By looking at what has been done before, we gather knowledge and inspiration that contribute to how we speak, feel and view the world around us” (Kristen (2012)).

The exhibition will bring these different animal works together in a space and context that most would never be viewed with. To create a space that the audience would never have seen before on the topic of animals, a topic that has linked most of the human race together through time: “We can find animal symbols almost everywhere in human cultures” (Hasty, J., Lewis, D.G. and Snipes, M.M. (2022)). This would bring to light thoughts on how the context of the new would affect the old and vice versa, how people’s opinions of and on animals would change.

I looked further into ideas, stories and myths behind these works, especially the older ones like the Egyptian and Greek, to fully understand how the perceptions and representations of these animals have changed through the centuries, while still being linked together by the animals the artists have used in the work.

Further research was also put into curation and how even the atmosphere of the venue will affect the exhibit. The atmosphere in my exhibit will affect how the viewer sees and takes in

the works and will influence their opinions about the exhibit. I wanted a calm and peaceful space where people could think about all of the ideas on display as well as the hidden meanings that the animals could represent in their works, so learning how the look and the noise of a space affects the mood was beneficial to the exhibit. “Acoustic low-level thrum of other people in the space makes you feel at ease” (Sotheby’s (2021)).

Conclusion

This exhibition is so important nowadays for audiences, as people need to think more about our animals and how crucial a role they play in our society. With climate change and humans destroying habitats, it’s always good to be reminded of how nature, specifically animals, have always impacted our history and art, and how integral they are to our lives and world. After Covid-19 it’s also important to think about how our pets have a played a positive role, and how reliant humans have become on them and have always been on animals, like dogs. Even in the past, our perspectives on certain animals and the ideas behind them have not changed over the centuries, with domesticated animals, to this day, being represented as positive and helpful creatures to humans.

It's also important to be able to combine all the artworks in the exhibition together, to show and teach us. With works in the past generating ideas that have grown over time and influenced people’s way of thinking, into the present works that are so different yet very similar to their core ideas. I would hope that the exhibit would inspire curators to look into older artwork and artifacts that can be used in a more modern setting. These works can then be introduced to a new generation who would be influenced by the ideas and symbolism in the work to create new and exciting ways of looking at animals and different art. Another benefit is to teach a new generation of artists the techniques behind the art or how myths and stories impacted our perceptions of the animals in the works and to be able to preserve history through this.

1.1 Unsuccessful Layouts

Unsuccessful layout 1

There was no order to this layout as the artworks were all divided up and weren’t in with others in their time period. This means that as the audience walks through the exhibition, it would feel and look strange and wouldn’t flow well.

Unsuccessful layout 2

The artworks are together in sections and flow better but there is a lot of empty space in the middle of the room. The layout also doesn’t really direct the viewer through the exhibition

Unsuccessful layout 3

The right side of the room fills the space well and directs the audience towards the artworks that are positioned there, however the left side of the room does not achieve this so well. The ‘Balloon Dog’ blocks the audience path in this position as well as separating ‘Oh what will be made of the mess we have made’ on the back wall from the other works.

References

Admin (2021) What is the importance of food chain in the ecosystem? explore answer at Byju’s IAS, BYJUS. Available at: https://byjus.com/ias-questions/what-is-theimportance-of-food-chain-inecosystem/#:~:text=Food%20chains%20are%20important%20because,producer%20or %20consumer%20is%20lost. (Accessed: 06 January 2024).

Archer, J. (1999) Why do people love their pets?, Evolution and Human Behavior. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0162309599800014 (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Baker, C. (2023) Biography: Charming Baker, About – charming baker. Available at: https://charmingbaker.com/about/ (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Baker, C. (no date) Biography: Charming Baker, About – charming baker. Available at: https://charmingbaker.com/about/ (Accessed: 06 January 2024).

Beetz, A. et al. (2012) Psychosocial and psychophysiological effects of human-animal interactions: The possible role of Oxytocin, Frontiers. Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00234/full?ref=magazine.circle dna.com (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Boehm, B.D. and Holcomb, M. (2001) Animals in medieval art: Essay: The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Heilbrunn timeline of art history, The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/best/hd_best.htm (Accessed: 06 January 2024).

Burke, D. (2023) Animal symbolism in art history, Fine Art Restoration Company. Available at: https://fineart-restoration.co.uk/news/cryptic-creatures-the-symbolism-of-animalsin-art/ (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Depledge, M.H. and Galloway, T.S. (2005) Healthy animals, healthy ecosystems, esajournals. Available at: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1890/1540-

9295%282005%29003%5B0251%3AHAHE%5D2.0.CO%3B2 (Accessed: 06 January 2024).

Egypt Museum (2023) Anubis Shrine of tutankhamun, Egypt Museum. Available at: https://egypt-museum.com/anubis-shrine-of-tutankhamun/ (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Exarchopoulos, S. (2023) Animals in greek art: From mythical creatures to everyday inspirations, GHD. Available at: https://www.greecehighdefinition.com/blog/2023/6/28/animals-in-greek-art-frommythical-creatures-to-everyday-inspirations (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Friedmann, E., Thomas, S.A., & Son, H. (2011). Pets, depression and long term survival in community living patients following myocardial infarction. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3156485/ (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

German, Dr.S. (2023) Bull-leaping fresco from the Palace of Knossos (article), Khan Academy. Available at: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-artcivilizations/aegean-art1/minoan/a/bull-leaping-fresco-from-the-palace-of-knossos (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Gilmor, R. (2015) History of wildlife art, Mall Galleries. Available at: https://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/learning/resources/history-wildlifeart#:~:text=It%20was%20from%20the%20more,they%20were%20describing%20and %20classifying. (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Hasty, J., Lewis, D.G. and Snipes, M.M. (2022) 18.3 symbolism and meaning of animalsintroduction to anthropology, OpenStax. Available at: https://openstax.org/books/introduction-anthropology/pages/18-3-symbolism-andmeaning-ofanimals#:~:text=Animals%20play%20a%20role%20in,8%3A6%E2%80%9312). (Accessed: 06 January 2024).

Invaluable (2020) Medieval art: Characteristics and influences Invaluable. Available at: https://www.invaluable.com/blog/medieval-art/ (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and museum (2023) Art UK. Available at: https://artuk.org/visit/venues/kelvingrove-art-gallery-and-museum-3305 (Accessed: 06 January 2024).

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and museum (2023) Glasgow Life. Available at: https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/museums/venues/kelvingrove-art-gallery-and-museum (Accessed: 06 January 2024).

Knossos Palace (2024) The Knossos Palace Knossos. Available at: https://knossos-palace.gr/ (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Koons, J. (2023) Jeff Koons artwork: Balloon dog, Jeff Koons. Available at: https://jeffkoons.com/artwork/celebration/balloon-dog-0 (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Kristen (2012) Why study art from the past?, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/teen-blog/renaissance-portrait/blog/studying-artfrom-the-past (Accessed: 06 January 2024).

Laisné, C. (1995) Art of ancient greece: Sculpture, painting, architecture. Paris: Terrail.

Leonard, J. (2019) Divine symbols and adored pets: The Animals of Ancient Greece, Greece Is. Available at: https://www.greece-is.com/divine-symbols-and-adored-pets-theanimals-of-ancient-greece/ (Accessed: 06 January 2024).

LeWine, H.E. (2023) Oxytocin: The love hormone, Harvard Health. Available at: https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/oxytocin-the-love-hormone (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Mansi, M. (2023) The symbolic meaning of animals in art, Cabana Magazine. Available at: https://cabanamagazine.com/pages/the-symbolic-meaning-of-animals-in-art (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Mark, J.J. (2022) Pets in ancient egypt, World History Encyclopedia. Available at: https://www.worldhistory.org/article/875/pets-in-ancient-egypt/ (Accessed: 06 January 2024).

Mark, J.J. (2023) Anubis, World History Encyclopedia. Available at: https://www.worldhistory.org/Anubis/ (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Matias, D.M.S. et al. (2017) A review of ecosystem service benefits from Wild Bees across social contexts, Ambio. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5385664/ (Accessed: 06 January 2024).

Mazza, M.G. et al. (2022) Post-COVID-19 depressive symptoms: Epidemiology, pathophysiology, and pharmacological treatment - CNS drugs, SpringerLink. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40263-022-00931-3 (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Mitchell, M. (2023) The symbolic use of animals in Western Art, Mark Mitchell. Available at: https://www.markmitchellpaintings.com/the-symbolic-use-of-animals-in-westernart/#:~:text=Such%20symbolism%20began%20to%20be,religious%20narratives%20in %20their%20paintings. (Accessed: 06 January 2024).

Mitchell, M. (2023) The symbolic use of animals in Western Art, Mark Mitchell. Available at: https://www.markmitchellpaintings.com/the-symbolic-use-of-animals-in-westernart/#:~:text=Such%20symbolism%20began%20to%20be,religious%20narratives%20in %20their%20paintings. (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Muir, A. (2023) Animals in art, Art Republic. Available at: https://artrepublic.com/blogs/news/animals-in-art (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

National Geographic (2019) Food chain Education. Available at: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/food-chain/ (Accessed: 06 January 2024).

Ogata, N., Weng, H.-Y. and Messam, L.L.McV. (2023) Temporal patterns of owner-pet relationship, stress, and loneliness during the covid-19 pandemic, and the effect of pet ownership on Mental Health: A Longitudinal Survey, PLOS ONE. Available at: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0284101 (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Parenta and Name (2021) The benefits of animals for children’s development, Parenta.com Available at: https://www.parenta.com/2020/04/01/the-benefits-of-animals-forchildrens-development/ (Accessed: 06 January 2024).

Reading Museum (2023) Sacred animals of ancient egypt Reading Museum. Available at: https://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/blog/sacred-animals-ancient-egypt (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Scone Palace (2023) Scone Palace. Available at: https://www.sconepalace.co.uk/news/mans-best-friend (Accessed: 06 January 2024).

Shaw, J. (2022) Biography: Jane Shaw sculpture: Bronze animal and wildlife sculptor, Jane Shaw Sculpture. Available at: https://www.janeshawsculpture.com/the-artist/ (Accessed: 06 January 2024).

Singh, A. and Adhikary, T. (2022) Importance of Pollinators in Fruit Production: A Review, Indianjournals. Available at: https://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:ijep1&volume=8&issue=3&articl e=008 (Accessed: 06 January 2024).

Sotheby’s (2021) Contemporary Conversations: The Art of Curating YouTube. 15 November. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dR3_31cTB8 (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Staatliche Museum (2023) Canopic Jars Recherche. Available at: https://recherche.smb.museum/detail/601115/kanope-scheinkanope-mit-angedeutetemdeckel-in-gestalt-eines-menschenkopfesamset?language=de&limit=15&sort=relevance&controls=none&conditions=AND%2B technicalTerm%2B%22Kanope%2B%28Grabausstattung%29%22&collectionKey=A MPAgyptischesMuseum&objIdx=4 (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Stafford, E. (2004) Life, myth, and art in Ancient Greece. Los Angeles, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum.

Syropoulos, S.D. (2018) A bestiary of monsters in greek mythology. Oxford: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd.

Tate (2023) Fresco, Tate. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/f/fresco (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

The Met (2023) Lion: Spanish The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/471061 (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

The Met (2023) Vanity sounds the Horn and ignorance unleashes the hounds overconfidence, Rashness, and desire (from the hunt of the Frail Stag): South netherlandish (no date) The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/468327 (Accessed: 07 January 2024).

Tiza (2023) The development of animal motifs in contemporary art, KunstLoft. Available at: https://www.kunstloft.co.uk/magazine/animal-motifs-in-contemporary-art/ (Accessed: 06 January 2024).

Trancart, F.-X. (2022) Jeff Koons and his infamous Balloon Dog, Artsper Magazine. Available at: https://blog.artsper.com/en/a-closer-look/jeff-koons-and-his-infamousballoon-dog/ (Accessed: 06 January 2024).

User Created (2023) The portrayal of animals in ancient Egypt with sculptures and texturesgoogle arts & culture (no date) Google. Available at: https://artsandculture.google.com/usergallery/the-portrayal-of-animals-in-ancientegypt-with-sculptures-and-textures%C2%A0/rQJCVHfi6ahuLQ (Accessed: 06 January 2024).