mastodon 4.8.0-alpha.3+pr-41085-a68fedbZoologist exploring animal iconography via intersections of natural history with art & visual culture history. AKA Deniz (she/they), PhD student @ University of Delaware.
https://linktr.ee/arthistoryanimalia
Happy 97th birthday to the incomparable Yayoi Kusama, born #OTD 22 March 1929! Amongst her massive catalog of works are some cool animals, including lots of butterflies...
Papillon (I), 2000
Screenprint, 38 × 45.5 cm
https://artsy.net/artwork/yayoi-kusama-papillon-i
I’ve just been informed that it’s #NationalBananaDay which means I have an excuse to post this gem:
Please enjoy this 17th c. book illustration of a #capybara chilling under a banana tree in Brazil🍌
📕A Relation of a Voyage made in the Years 1695, 1696, 1697 on the Coasts of Africa, Streights of Magellan, Brasil, Cayenna, and the Antilles, by a Squadron of French Men of War, under the Command of M. de Gennes, written by François Froger, published in 1698.
via Bonhams: https://www.bonhams.com/auction/21752/lot/247/froger-francois-a-relation-of-a-voyage-made-in-the-years-1695-1696-1697-on-the-coasts-of-africa-streights-of-magellan-brasil-cayenna-and-the-antilles-by-a-squadron-of-french-men-of-war-under-the-command-of-m-de-gennes-m-gillyflower-and-others-1698/
For #InternationalFlamingoDay 🦩 here's a fun #ArtNouveau A-Z #alphabet fashioned out of #flamingos ! Designed by Étienne Mulier and published in _Lettres et Enseignes Art Nouveau_ (Paris, 1901).
#typography #BirdsInArt
For #CrowAndRavenAppreciationDay 🐦⬛:
some pics from Joan Danziger’s new sculpture exhibition #Ravens: Spirits of The Sky
on display through 17 May at American University Museum @ Katzen Arts Center, DC
More info: https://www.american.edu/cas/museum/2026/danziger-ravens.cfm
#BirdsInArt #WomenArtists #ContemporaryArt
Projekt: The Polish Journal of visual art and design, 127, 6, 1978.
Cover design by Hubert Hilscher
Size 235mm x 310mm
Via Design Reviewed: https://designreviewed.com/artefacts/projekt-127-6-1978/
#BirdsInArt #GraphicDesign
#WorldOtterDay musical entertainment:
Bagpiping #otter in the margin of the Book of Hours, Lyon, c.1505-10; Lyon, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 6881, fol. 63v.
https://arca.irht.cnrs.fr/ark:/63955/md32d791w48g
#MedievalMarginalia #MedievalManuscripts
#WorldTurtleDay: giving new meaning to the phrase “looking like a snack,” behold the taco turtle! 🌮🐢
#Turtle from Manuscript of the 'Aja'ib al-makhluqat (Wonders of Creation) of Qazwini, India, Deccan, c. 1650-1700, f.106v
Painting with text; ink, opaque watercolor & gold on paper
30.1 x 17.2 cm (11 7/8 x 6 3/4 in.)
Harvard Art Museums 1972.3: https://harvardartmuseums.org/art/216430
#Caturday 🐱
Man Ray (USA, 1890-1976)
Still Life No. 1, 1913
Oil on canvas
On display at Columbus Museum of Art #Cats exhibition (1931.257)
#CatsInArt
For #WorldTurtleDay 🐢 on a #Caturday 🐈:
Vicente do Rego Monteiro (Brazil, 1899-1970)
#Cat and #Turtle, 1925
Oil on canvas, 21 3/4 x 18 1/8 in.
Metropolitan Museum of Art (1975.1.2384)
#CatsInArt
It’s #WorldParrotDay 🦜!
Vessel in the form of a #parrot,
300 BCE - 400 CE
Comala style, Late Formative Period, Colima, W. Mexico
Ceramic w/ red slip
18.5 × 30.5 × 14 cm (7 5/16 × 12 × 5 1/2 in.)
On display @ Princeton University Art Museum (2016-1239)
#BirdsInArt #MesoamericanArt #IndigenousArt
#Caturday 🐱
Marion T. Gatrell (USA, 1909-1984)
Night Watch, 1950
Oil on Masonite
On display at Columbus Museum of Art #Cats exhibition (1976.007)
#CatsInArt
Resharing for #InternationalCrabDay 🦀
(plus #Invertefest! )
Benjamin Henry Day Jr. (USA, 1838–1916)
Illustration for " #Crab Story"
Watercolor & black ink
8 7/8 x 7 15/16 in. (22.5 x 20.2 cm)
Metropolitan Museum of Art 67.787.1
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/408725
#CrabTime 🦀🦀🦀
Dive into Wool Creature Lab’s World of Vibrant Felted #Nudibranchs !
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2026/03/wool-creature-lab-arina-bovenich-felted-wool-nudibranchs/ via Colossal
found a fun Little Guy for #FrogFriday 🐸:
#Frog Bowl by Michael Brolly, 1988
Maple, ebony, mahogany; 4 x 7 in.
On display at the Museum for Art in Wood. Philadelphia (OBJ 1185)
#TwoForTuesday :
Two #Bats
Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd Ṭūsī, ʿAjāyib al-makhlūqāt va-gharāyib al-mawjūdāt, Baghdad 790 AH / 1388 CE
BnF, Supplément persan 332, fol. 223v
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8422994d/f460.item
For #WorldTapirDay :
#Tapir Pendant
Diquis, Costa Rica, c. 700-1400 CE
Gold, Length 2 in.
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/116714411_a-diquis-gold-tapir-pendant-costa-rica-c-700-dallas-tx
#IndigenousArt #CentralAmericanArt
#TapirTuesday :
#Tapir bench, 2018
Artist: Mayawari Mehinaku (b. 1989)
Mehinaku People, Kaupüna Village, Xingu Indigenous Park, Brazil
Wood, natural pigments, beeswax, snail shell; 60 x 57 x 140 cm
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/9ddc2dda65e04ab884ed9dd9712b642b
#IndigenousArt
Today is both #WorldFrogDay and #WorldSparrowDay so here is Swallow and Frog at a Party by Teisai Hokuba (Japan, 1771–1844), woodblock print (sumizuri-e), ink on paper, 18 x 21.3 cm (7 1/16 x 8 3/8 in.), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston collection: https://collections.mfa.org/objects/533328
#JapaneseArt
For #PinkFlamingoDay on a #FlamingoFriday 🦩:
“ Miss #Flamingo ” easy chair, 2017
Designed by Alexis Verstraeten & Pauline Montironi (Belgium)
Vintage chrome plated steel base by Paul Paulin, 1960's, upholstered with white Icelandic sheepskin & pink stuffed plush
H ~95 cm, seat H ~38 cm
https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/Miss-Flamingo/8FE9DDA13AF057F8
Ellen Anne Eddy (IN, USA)
Dancing in the Light, 2008
Quilt, 69 x 55 in (175 x 140 cm)
National Quilt Museum
https://www.saqa.com/art/browse-collection/dancing-light
#Insects #WomenArtists
Techniques: Machine pieced, machine appliquéd, bobbin worked, digital threadwork designed by the artist, fused, machine quilted
Materials: Hand-dyed cotton, lace, lamé, brocade, polyester thread, Candlelight thread, Razzle Dazzle thread, Glamoor thread, # 5 pearl cotton, monofilament nylon thread, stabilizers, felt, Warm and Natural™ Batt
For #WildKoalaDay 🐨:
Marianne North (British, 1830-1890)
Australian Bears and Australian Pears (Koala), c. early 1880s
Marianne North Gallery, Kew Gardens
https://www.kew.org/mng/gallery/735.html
Fauna: Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)
Flora: Wooden Pear (Xylomelum occidentale)
FYI, North traveled to Australia & New Zealand on the recommendation of #Darwin ! See the results here: https://www.kew.org/mng/gallery/australasia.html
For #WorldOtterDay 🦦:
Christian Morrisseau (Anishinaabe, 1969-2022)
#Otter Family, 2005
acrylic on canvas, 93.5 x 121.9 cm (36.79 ins x 48 in)
https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/OTTER-FAMILY/0DF90C78588179DD
#FirstNationsArt #NativeAmericanArt #IndigenousArt
It's #WorldDugongDay! #DYK the #dugong is the only surviving Sirenian cousin of the #manatees; its closest modern relative, Steller's Sea Cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), was hunted to extinction in the 18th century. 😢
Louis Paul Jonas (USA, 1894-1971)
Dugong sculpture, H7 x W14 x D7.25 in.
https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/louis-paul-jonas-studios-dugong-67-c-a654570afa
For #WorldTurtleDay 🐢:
Hunt Slonem (American, b. 1951)
#Turtle Tondo, 1986
Oil on canvas, D 36 in. (91.44 cm)
https://invaluable.com/auction-lot/hunt-slonem-american-b-1951-turtle-tondo-390-c-74d46a6096
For #InternationalHyenaDay :
#Hyena mask
Winiama blacksmith, central Burkina Faso, 19th - 1st half 20th c.
Ceiba(?) wood, pigment
H 11 1/2 × W 8 1/2 × D 8 in. (29.2 × 21.6 × 20.3 cm)
on display at Metropolitan Museum of Art (1979.206.200)
#AfricanArt
For #InternationalLeopardDay here is Pounce, 2013, by self-taught Kenyan artist Joseph Thiongo (b. 1967). His works featuring realistic African animals juxtaposed with colorful abstract watercolor backgrounds are especially gorgeous! https://trueafricanart.com/collections/joseph-thiongo
#LeopardDay #AfricanArt #ContemporaryArt
Happy #WorldTapirDay ! These paintings of an adult & juvenile Malayan Tapir (Tapirus indicus) are 2 of the 477 watercolors of flora & fauna by Chinese artists commissioned by William Farquhar when he was the Resident of Malacca from 1803-18, now in the National Museum of Singapore:
https://www.roots.gov.sg/Collection-Landing/listing/1083462
https://www.roots.gov.sg/Collection-Landing/listing/1082542
For #InternationalCrabDay 🦀
(plus #Invertefest! ) please enjoy some medieval #bestiary #crabs 🦀
1 Bib. Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. lat. 291 (De rerum naturis) f97v
2 Bib. Apostolica Vaticana, Reg. lat. 258 f25v
3 British Library, Harley MS 3244 f67r
4 Koninklijke Bib. KB KA 16 (Der Naturen Bloeme) f113v
#CrabTime 🦀🦀🦀
#PinkFlamingoDay + #NationalAlligatorDay double feature:
Fritz Dreisbach (USA, b. 1941)
Pink #Flamingo Reverse Goblet, 1992 (glass)
Preston Singletary (Tlingit, b. 1963)
#Alligator Goblet, 1991 (glass)
Both on display @ MAD | Museum of Arts and Design NYC
Happy #WorldOtterDay 🦦!
Jane Armstrong (USA, 1921-2012)
Sleeping #Otter, 1972
Marble
On display at Columbus Museum of Art (1973.003)
#WorldDugongDay :
Susan Wanji Wanji (b.1955, active Melville Island, NT, Australia)
#Dugong, 1983
Acrylic on paper
43 x 64 cm (16.9 x 25.2 in.)
https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/Dugong/304556D8760097C856D41D64E01C12A3
#IndigenousArt #FirstNationsArt #AboriginalArt #WomenArtists
#BlueMonday 💙
“L'Argus bleu celeste”
= Adonis Blue #Butterfly (Lycaena bellargus)
Plate 10, Les papillons dans la nature (1934)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/biodivlibrary/6197409831/in/album-72157627662612521
#SciArt via BHL
For #MothersDay :
Charley Harper (USA, 1922-2007)
“Momatee”
Original gouache on artist board c.1960s; later published in Jan. 1972 issue of Ford Times Magazine
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15ZMpfQjk2/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Lithograph:
https://www.charleyharperartstudio.com/momatee.html
#Manatees
#FishFriday 🐟:
Eric Adjetey Anang (Ghana)
What #Fish Get, 2014
Poplar, Milk Paint, Plastic
H 15 x W 9 x D 48 in.
On display at the Museum for Art in Wood, Philadelphia (OBJ 1046)
On the blog:
ANIMAL ART OF THE DAY: Today is Both #AudubonDay and #InternationalFlamingoDay, So Here Is Audubon’s Flamingo!
https://arthistoryanimalia.com/2024/04/26/animal-art-of-the-day-today-is-both-audubon-day-and-international-flamingo-day-so-here-is-audubons-flamingo/
#BirdsInArt
#WomenArtists with bonus #BirdsInArt (via Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum):
https://www.lywam.org/stepping-into-the-light-women-artists-and-creative-kinships/
For #WorldWildlifeDay :
More than 1,600 Hand-Drawn #Animals Roam the Earth in Anton Thomas’s ‘Wild World’ Map https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2023/12/anton-thomas-wild-world/ via Colossal
The March social media calendar is finally up - just in time for #WorldWildlifeDay today! It's a busy month for animal and artist days. :)
https://arthistoryanimalia.com/calendar/
#MonochromeMonday:
Drawing, #Ostrich, 1976
Suzie Zuzek (USA, 1920-2011)
textile design for Key West Hand Print Fabrics, Inc. for Lilly Pulitzer, Inc.
brush & pen, watercolor, gouache, & ink on paper
H 38.1 × W 27.9 cm (15 × 11 in)
https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318804110/
#WomenArtists #BirdsInArt
#SuperSizedSunday:
Linda Guenste (USA, b.1959)
A Murder of #Crows, n.d.
Oil in linen, w80 x h48 in.
On display at Michener Art Museum
#BirdsInArt #WomenArtists
#SupersizedSunday:
Clarence Holbrook Carter (USA, 1904-2000)
Over and Above, No. 14
1964
Oil on canvas, 75 3/16 x 77 3/16 in. (191 x 196 cm)
On display at Michener Art Museum
#BirdsInArt #Vulture
New exhibition!
VASILISA ROMANENKO:
FLORA & FLIGHT
solo exhibition
May 1st - 31st, 2026
Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PA
https://www.archenemyarts.com/floraandflight2026
#BirdsInArt #ContemporaryArt
#BookRecommendation for #CrowAndRavenAppreciationDay :
The Book of Raven: #Corvids in Art and Legend
by Angus Hyland (2021)
https://amzn.to/3R670OX
Announcement for our next UDAAWG meeting - we are new and still actively recruiting so please pass along to anyone who may be interested!
PS: This is a UD graduate student working group, BUT we also welcome advanced undergrads, recent alumni, AND students from UD-affiliated institutions (CMCS, CEH, DENIN, Winterthur, etc.).
#NationalAlligatorDay 🐊:
“Old City Gates, St. Augustine, Fla." Matchsafe, c.1910
Manufactured by Watson Co., USA
Brass; 4 x 6.3 x 1 cm (1 9/16 x 2 1/2 x 3/8 in.)
Cooper Hewitt 1980-14-1369
https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18502519
#BookRecommendation for #InternationalFlamingoDay 🦩:
#Flamingo (Animal series) https://amzn.to/4a3dMsU via #AmazonAssociates
#BookRecommendation for #InternationalHyenaDay :
#Hyena (Animal series)
by Mikita Brottman (2012)
https://amzn.to/48M3TlB
#BookRecommendation for #AudubonDay:
Audubon as Artist: A New Look at The Birds of America (2024) https://amzn.to/49XUW6n
#BirdsInArt
#BookRecommendation for #AudubonDay:
Audubon's Aviary: The Original Watercolors for The Birds of America (2012) https://amzn.to/44khOfd
#BirdsInArt
