Birds & Beasts

Birds & Beasts is a celebration of animal painting in Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries. A safari of creatures great and small, Rafael Valls Ltd will be exhibiting paintings of the winged, scaled, and four-legged by some of the greatest animal artists including Melchior d’Hondecoeter, Jan Weenix, Jacques-Laurent Agasse and William Huggins.

Societies from the European Baroque to the 21st century have shown an endless fascination with animals, whether domestic or wild. Wildlife documentaries can be seen as the natural progression from the depictions of exotic creatures featured in Birds & Beasts including lions, jaguars, parrots, ibises and lizards. Understanding as well as appreciation drove artists to find and paint these non-European species for a curious audience.

A different impulse was behind the demand for paintings of native species. These pictures of dogs, horses, game and farm animals came about through the love of hunting, pride in breeding, and affection for favourite pets.

Above all, a deep connection to the pleasure of seeing animals of all kinds, represented beautifully on canvas, panel or paper, unites the artworks in Birds & Beasts. Fur, feathers, manes, and paws all demonstrate the artists’ skill and their deep appreciation for their subjects.

Included in the exhibition are paintings by:

Jacques-Laurent Agasse

Tommaso Campana

Henry Bernard Chalon

John Ferneley Snr

Gaetano Forte

Melchior d’Hondecoeter

William Huggins

Francesco Londonio

George William Sartorius

Pietro Neri Scacciati

Otto Marseus van Schrieck

Tobias Stranover

Anthonie de Waard

James Ward

Jan Weenix