Animal sculptures

At Carré d'artistes you will find an impressive selection of animal sculptures that will blend perfectly into the decor of your living room or in a child's room.

Art and animals go hand in hand

Animals have long been able to amaze us through paintings, photographs, but also - and especially - sculptures. Discover the works of our artists ranging from classic style, street-art, through pop-art to individual art! Animal sculpture is a type of sculpture that is distinguished by works dedicated exclusively to domestic, wild and even imaginary animals.

Origin of these sculptures

This kind of sculpture did not have the effect in Europe that was hoped for. Nevertheless, it reached its peak in 1831 at the Paris Salon through the sculpture of Antoine-Louis Barye, entitled the Tiger. Success came quickly. This sculptor favored the naturalistic representation of this mammal at the expense of a mythological representation. From this period, the revival of animal sculpture took off. These sculptures took off under the Second Empire.

Famous animal sculptures

The most important sculptors like François Pompon, Auguste Caïn or Louis Rouillard relied on animal art to boost their careers. The White Bear by Auguste Rodin aroused general interest when it was exhibited at the Salon d'Automne of French artists. Since then, this sculpture has been one of the most famous in the world. With this in mind, Jeff Koons' iconic stainless steel poodle is also sweeping the headlines. This sculpture is available in five different versions. The most famous, which has become iconic, is the pink Balloon Dog on display today at the Pompidou Center in Paris.

Techniques and materials of animal sculptures

Like other sculptures, animal sculptures consist of making shapes in relief, volume, direct cutting, assembly or welding.

Techniques used

To create a sculpture, several techniques can be considered and associated with each other. Modeling, as its name suggests, consists of modeling a solid plastic like clay or earth. Modern artists add unexpected materials to it, such as plastic and metal parts or sheets. Pruning is a tool for carving wood or stone. The direct cut does not require any preliminary sketch and is carried out directly on the block. As for the size, with adjustment, it duplicates the original model in great detail using exact measurements. Assembly, on the other hand, is the way of assembling elements by means of dowels, pegs, welding, rivets or mortises in materials such as gold, wood, etc.

Materials used

These require specific expertise. Artists can, for example, model clay or plaster and carve soft wood. Some sculptors may also use sand, concrete, shells, different types of fibers, plant materials, feathers, flowers, leaves, straw, and other materials In short, all design options are possible. In China, sculptors may even work on gemstones such as jade. Carré d'artistes sculptors were inspired by these different materials and various visual artists to design original and exceptional animal sculptures. Sébastien Chartier is particularly distinctive, for example, for his elephant sculptures as is Floh and for his sculptures of animals in the imaginary world.