Animals in art: from medieval to today

What is the course about?

Animals have been object of artists’ curiosity since time immemorial. In the recent years, however, our understanding of animal sociality, and their use of tools and language has changed dramatically. The transformation of our knowledge through the studies of animal behaviour and cognition, popularised in mass media, has been so significant that characteristics traditionally attributed to humans have now been proven to also manifest themselves in the ‘animal kingdom’.

In this art history course we explore how artists have depicted animals and human-animal relations from the late medieval period to today, and how new scientific knowledge and new ways of thinking about animals have been taken up in contemporary art.

We will study the use of animals, both imaginary and real, as images, as dead objects, and even as living actors in the works of art. We will discuss the philosophical questions that these works generate.

We will examine the works of artists including Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Hieronymus Bosch, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Titian, Peter Paul Rubens, Adriaen van de Velde, Karel Dujardin, Paulus Potter, George Stubbs, Théodore Géricault, Henri Rousseau, Edvard Munch, Franz Marc, Umberto Boccioni, Natalia Goncharova, Max Ernst, Joseph Beuys, Rosemarie Trockel, Kiki Smith, Mark Dion, Patricia Piccinini, and Marcus Coates.

What will we cover?

• The use of animals in painting, sculpture, video, and performance as/with/by animals from the late medieval period to the more recent art that questions humanity’s exceptional position in nature.
• A range of philosophical issues concerning the use of animals in art, and human-animal relations.
• How recent changes in our understanding of animals and their behaviour has transformed their use by artists.

What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...

• List at least three works of art where animals are represented, used or were central actors, and describe what roles these ‘nonhumans’ play.
• Evaluate the relevance of at least three examples of the contemporary artworks dealing with the topic of human-animal relations.
• Demonstrate improved visual analysis skills and an ability to situate the key works of art discussed in a broader cultural context.

What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?

This course is suitable for all levels.

You should be able to follow simple written and verbal instructions, demonstrations and hand-outs. You should be willing to read the assigned texts as they will be key to certain aspects of our lectures and discussions.

This is an online course open to all levels. Students should be familiar with or willing to learn to use digital systems to engage with class materials. These systems include Zoom and Google Classroom. If online learning is new to you, please have a look at our City Lit online learning help pages:click here.

How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?

You will be taught by lecture with slide images and you will be invited to participate in group discussion. There will be handouts provided by your tutor; these handouts will be available digitally via a Google Classroom. You will be invited to join the Google Classroom within a week of your course start date.

Please note: this is a live lecture course and will not be recorded for playback for reasons of copyright, digital infrastructure and data protection.

Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?

You might wish to bring a notebook.

When I've finished, what course can I do next?

Avant-garde women: art innovations of the 20th & 21st centuries
Art and Critical Theory: Rethinking "Nature"