Friday, April 21, 2006

FIERCE FRIENDS: ARTISTS & ANIMALS, 1750–1900

This fascinating show, mixes science, art, sociology, natural history, cultural history, and several other areas of study in looking at how artists viewed and depicted animals from 1750-1900. The ideas implicit in the show--about animal rights, evolution, and so on--are still really relevant to the current world.

Fierce Friends: Artists & Animals, 1750–1900
Through August 27, 2006

In the 18th and 19th centuries, modern theories of evolution and the proliferation of machines elevated animals to a new status in religion, philosophy, and the arts. This exhibition, co-organized by Carnegie Museum of Art and the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, explores the ways that artists of the period addressed the issue of humanity’s relationship with nature as exemplified through our treatment of animals. Through paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, and photographs, the exhibition shows how the visual arts drew upon science, natural history, and literature about animals, and how those fields, in turn, were shaped, inspired, or influenced by the work of artists. Designed to create visual juxtapositions that suprise, delight, and provoke, the exhibition presents great paintings and sculptures next to fossils, specimens of taxidermy, ground plans of zoological gardens, illustrated books, bird cages, and steam engines.

Fierce Friends: Artists and Animals, 1750-1900 is the opening venue for Pittsburgh Roars, a celebration of the region's arts, culture, and family attractions.

Carnegie Museum of Art
4400 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-4080
Tel: 412.622.3131

No comments:

Post a Comment