The (almost unknown) world of Animalier Art and the young antiques dealer who staked everything on it

VALERIA RICCI – It all started thanks to family tradition, my parents who have been antique dealers for over 30 years, passionate collectors and art lovers in general have never forced my choices, on the contrary they have always encouraged me to seek "my path", obviously supporting me with their experience.

However, they had not taken into account a infinite love, which I have cultivated since I was little towards the animal world, especially for horses.

For me, every choice was inextricably linked to the equestrian world, so much so that my studies were taking me in that direction. In addition to practicing horse riding, I was very curious about the historical context in which man's relationship with these wonderful, great beings originated. protagonists of its evolution, soon finding myself in comparison with animalier artists.

A world opened up to me that I discovered over time, completely forgotten by the Italian market, but very popular and with a profound artistic tradition at European level, Mostly in Holland, Belgium, England, France e Germany, even if Italy boasts niche artists who have nothing to envy of their foreign colleagues in terms of expressive quality.

It is useless to reiterate the enthusiasm in giving a concrete objective to my research, transforming it into a stylistic choice for the family gallery and continuing as an identity in the antiques market.

The beginnings were not easy, but thanks to a large number of contacts cultivated within the country clubs, during the years as a rider, I immediately obtained the consensus and interest of many operators in the sector, differentiated between breeders, instructors, sportsmen and enthusiasts of the animalier genre.

The greatest satisfaction was that of create a specialized gallery , setting up stands with themed works during the exhibitions, receiving curious comments at the beginning, which over time turned into real consultancy as Art advisor. Today's customers let themselves be advised by demonstrating trust because my choices in terms of purchases have the same wavelength as those who first of all love animals and then want to surround themselves with works that convey an authentic emotion.

Observing Nature in its original context allows you to establish a relationship with reality made up of solid and very profound values, even during this pandemic finding a connection with oneself has become a primary need, animals help a lot to re-establish a balance that our hectic life has made us neglect, it is no coincidence that there are real sessions that fall within the scope of the Pet Therapy.

“A work of art, be it a painting or sculpture, cannot fail to also keep in mind this mystical side, the authentic “animality” that distinguishes the masterpiece from a simple decorative interpretation”

The most fascinating aspect that professionally distinguishes a gallery owner/antiquarian, I find, is the part dedicated to research: travelling, studying, updating, consulting and purchasing historical publications, translating texts, monographs or catalogs of dated exhibitions, (the bibliography concerning the animaliers is mainly of foreign origin), get in touch with foundations and museums to reconstruct unknown biographies, relocate niche artists in a context who perhaps in their own small way have reached interesting levels of quality or simply have not received the right recognition because they are too "outside the schemes” for the taste of the time, but extremely revolutionary and worthy of being mentioned…all this allows you to train your instinct, which is useful when choosing the works to include as new purchases.

My artistic "stable" is always constantly growing.

The Italian reality regarding the antiques sector aimed at the animalier genre compared to the foreign one it is very limited, culturally we are led to choose works linked to an anthropocentric taste, but precisely for this reason the space to introduce a new genre allows us to have a certain visibility, even from a segment of customers with interests oriented towards a lifestyle that aligns well with the concept of "Naturalism", I have my personal satisfactions and I am more than convinced of my path.

IThe current market offers many sales realities, from auctions to online, but I remain of the opinion that seeing the works in real life, establishing a conversation with the gallery owner, rich in content, beyond the pure commercial purpose which ends in the purchase, are still important aspects, especially for a niche genre like animalier that is still little known today and has a lot to tell.

I can say from experience that the customer approach is strictly linked to a Fil rouge which connects the works to the love for animals, the same principle I use when researching.

Each subject must convey to me the descriptive morphological qualities that concern the animal depicted, but the artist must also be able to capture the "soul", more precisely the ethological aspect. In fact, many artists tend to practice on an academic, technical-realistic level while in my opinion the one who really makes the difference is the one who knows how to interpret the animals' state of mind, transforming a simple gesture into something instinctive and wild, unlike human beings they retain many aspects linked to primordial life in nature, creating a sort of fascination on those who observe them and remain attracted by them.

A work of art, be it a painting or sculpture, cannot fail to also keep in mind this mystical side, the authentic "animality" that distinguishes the masterpiece from a simple decorative interpretation. An animalier work must project us into a real dimension as if in that moment the depicted subject were before our eyes: vibrant and alive like the emotions we feel when looking at it in its natural context. I am of the opinion that preferring unusual and less obvious artistic currents to what today can be considered an artistic "investment" trend is fundamentally an unconventional choice, small galleries like mine have to explore new "territories" and focus on the search for that "niche" that the collector not subjugated by fashions appreciates and re-evaluates in many aspects, primarily for an alignment of taste and passion.

VR – The current market is very complicated to analyze, the Covid19 situation has upset many traditional realities, has brought out others, the quality, rarity and eclecticism of high antiques have resisted, collectors today are increasingly knowledgeable and demanding, we need to update ourselves and like all professionals, antique dealers have also adapted by improving and dedicating themselves to the development of some aspects rather than others. With the galleries closed and the exhibitions postponed we had more time to manage our cultural resources, do research and give space to content, let me explain better, online has given a lot of space to those who tended to have an approach based on cultural in-depth analysis, the sales were resolved in ways other than face-to-face negotiations, the communication and visibility formulas have changed.

The fundamental change in my opinion is how much an operator is able to bring out the professionalism of his gallery, the specialization of the topics covered, the objectives and expertise in the field, in short everything that distinguishes a trained professional compared to other realities. We must rediscover the pleasure of returning to galleries, using online to enhance our knowledge. The pandemic has pushed the art world to face new challenges. As for the young Antiquarians, children of art, content management through social media or dedicated portals has created a dense network of connections and dissemination of knowledge which has allowed even non-experts to approach antiques in a more direct way, everything is much more usable and the distances between operators in the art system have shortened.

Compared to Contemporary Art, our reality was less exposed to the media, all of this served to rediscover a great beauty at a national level that had long lived in a veiled and generally reserved dimension.

I have been a member of theAssociation of Young Milanese Antique Dealers, which refers to the Milanese Antique Dealers Association - FIMA and I can say that the spirit of collaboration that distinguishes our members has contributed greatly to the creation of new projects created to involve new groups of interlocutors and collectors. Within the Giovani Antiquari Milanesi there is a climate of positive, constructive and proactive discussion, we meet regularly on a monthly basis to discuss and approve new ideas always inherent to our field, a small success was the evening dedicated to Gala Amart, an event that also saw participants and partners the Youth of the Poldi Pezzoli Museum, Fai delegation from Milan – Youth Group, i Young people from the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum. We firmly believe in the union of multiple forces, creative minds and in a particular way we also carry out awareness-raising for the conservationist aspect, the valorization of art and the protection of artistic heritage.

VR – Paul Potter (1625 – 1654) Dutch painter, was a pioneer in landscape painting with animals. Rural scenes and small-scale animal paintings became popular in Holland from the mid-1640th century. Potter was a precocious artist; his first works date back to XNUMX. His style, characterized by particular attention to the depiction of animals, influenced various artistic currents from the XNUMXth century to the XNUMXth century, many painters were inspired by his works, giving life to a current that over time dedicated mainly to animal portraiture, we rarely find works that have the animal as the protagonist created with a non-anthropocentric vision (animals considered at the service of man or simply classified as income).

Animals were generally "included" in the various themes from war conflict, to work in the fields or as "accessories" belonging to high society. Following Potter's artistic sensibility many artists after him began to reevaluate the leading role of animals. Dutch painting was the starting point, followed by English, French and obviously Italian painting, also involving sculpture.

The oil on canvas painting entitled “The Bull” created by Paulus Potter in 1647, due to its extraordinary dimensions 235,5 x 339 cm, it represents an icon of the animalier genre.

This is one of the most famous paintings in the Mauritshuis Museum. What makes The Bull so special is the fact that Potter painted something as ordinary as a bull on such a large scale, which had never been done before. And despite this large size, he paid great attention to the smallest details, such as the lark in the sky, the sun on the meadow, the flies on the bull's back and the cow's whiskers. That is made the painting the epitome of Dutch nature painting.

When Paulus Potter died of tuberculosis before the age of thirty, he had already profoundly influenced the way animals are depicted in European art. Potter created portraits of animals, making them the centerpiece of his image, not just a backdrop for human action. The precocious son of a painter, his earliest dated work dates from 1640. He entered the Guild of St. Luke of Delft in 1646 and subsequently moved to The Hague. He is said to have wandered the Dutch countryside, sketchbook in hand, equally sensitive to how farm animals behave at different times of the day and to the vicissitudes of light from morning to sunset. Few of his contemporaries were more attuned to the moods of nature or the timeless harmony of animals, landscapes and weather. Potter's strong sensitivity to composition can be seen in the way he grouped shapes and used anatomical skills, the result of plein air studies and an immeasurable love for this world.

“If we observe the personalities of the artists who have contributed most to the growth of the animalier genre we find in all of them a particularly strong character, extreme sensitivity and an acute spirit of observation, they are lovers and profound connoisseurs of wild nature, all seasoned with a hint of rebellion and aversion to academic restrictions"

His contemporaries recognized Potter's talent. The famous doctor Nicolas Tulp, who twenty years earlier had identified the young man's genius Rembrandt van Rijn, persuaded Potter to move to Amsterdam in 1652, after which he became Potter's mentor. In the XNUMXth century, Potter's life-size young bull was as famous as The night patrol by Rembrandt. He was considered a precursor and pioneer who opened the doors to an artistic movement unjustly considered "minor" but which in the following centuries was the protagonist of small important conquests and artistic revolutions.

For this reason he is today considered the founder of the "animalist" genre typical of seventeenth-century Flemish art and widespread among collectors of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is probable that the influence of Pieter van Laer's works was of great importance in giving monumentality and luminosity to Potter's compositions: following his stimuli he began to strategically use the position of the animals, in such a way as to give greater spatiality. Since the late 1940s, his paintings have been characterized by a rustic naturalism, with the choice to focus on the details of peasant work and with the intention of illuminating it in a positive light, as happened in contemporary literature.

On the other hand, if we observe the personalities of the artists who have contributed most to the growth of the animalier genre we find in all of them a particularly strong character, extreme sensitivity and an acute spirit of observation, they are lovers and profound connoisseurs of wild nature, the all seasoned with a hint of rebellion and aversion to academic restrictions influenced by common taste. They managed to transfer the most evocative and engaging aspects of their experience into their works with their own interpretative ability.

Recently the art world has developed a fair amount of biographical research as a function of bibliographic expansion, many artists obtain the right recognition given the quality of their works, but it is impossible to mention them all, I would say to mention the most famous divided into significant geographical areas. More than an objective and didactic transcription of life, I would like to present them through quotes formulated by them, or life anecdotes, to make people understand how much dedication, passion, technique, commitment and determination are hidden behind the scenes of the Animalier genre.

Starting from Great Britain where it is good to first of all make a fundamental distinction: the English are divided into two categories, those who love horses and the others. Life without animals would be unthinkable.

George Stubbs (1724 – 1806) English artist famous for his portraiture dedicated to Thoroughbreds, his lifestyle revolves around the world of horses, he was literally obsessed with the equestrian world, his goal was to “stop and impress” the most significant traits of an animal famous for its nervousness, incapable of staticity par excellence, he chose as his subject the “Son of the wind” using a realism unmatched for the time. He obtained the results with obsessive anatomical studies, dissecting dozens of carcasses and drawing all the phases with scientific meticulousness. In 1766 the volume The Anatomy of the Horse represents a pioneering work for its time. He was also the first to portray a famous horse such as Whistlejacket 1762 on a neutral background, life-size and deliberately excluding the presence of man, his philosophy repeatedly underlined the horse as the highest expression of perfection and freedom in nature.

Another minor genre but still within the English animalier sector is the so-called Sporting Art born from the strong desire to consolidate one's traditions, a life dedicated to leisure, primarily fox hunting and horse racing, gaining the primacy of cultural phenomenon. The animalier universe gave rise to a series of testimonies that left an indelible mark in the history of art, affirming the British love for animals. The "chroniclers" of this Anglo-Saxon fashion were the Sporting Painters (the family Herring, the family Harris) who experimented with paintings and sculptures with a naturalistic theme intended to decorate the walls in honor of prestigious sporting successes, Jockey Clubs or the bourgeois living rooms of Victorian England.

The clients appreciated the discovery of one of their favorites on canvas, they were amazed and equally proud to see him engaged in a wild gallop race, as he was enhanced on the wall of the sumptuous homes of the owners. No art critic, even the most skeptical, could ignore a new artistic genre anymore which involved an ever-increasing number of the public, including collectors and simple enthusiasts. Many other artists soon tried their hand at this genre, enjoying considerable success not only in England but also in the United States.

“Eugène Delacroix was fascinated by the bond that unites horse and rider... one perceives an almost mythological sense of fusion, identifying oneself in the figure of the centaur, so much so that human movements are in symbiosis with those of horses”

Sir Alfred Munnings (1878 – 1959), unquestionably the most popular and appreciated equestrian painter of the 1949th century, wrote in XNUMX: “Although horses have caused me many troubles and many sleepless nights, they have always been my supporters, my friends, in fact my destiny. Looking back on my life inextricably linked to theirs, I have painted them, fed them, ridden them hosted in my mind and hope to have learned something from them. I have never given up trying to understand them."

This perhaps explains the consensus he garners among art enthusiasts and horse lovers. The language is common, as are the masterpieces of Sir Edwin Landseer ( 1802 – 1873) the major animal painter in the Victorian era, which portrayed animals and humans in attitudes of great complicity, was one of the precursors who dared to elevate the role of animals from work to "company" (Pet), the truth is that Landseer managed to translate situations of great emotional intensity onto canvas ( La Ferratura 1844- La tent Araba 1866) like the friendship that linked him to some of the protagonists of his most famous works.

These aspects, so unusual for the time, are customary in today's society which has shown ever greater attention to respect and protection for the animal kingdom.

In France, the animalier reality, always influenced by Flemish taste, brings out some artists who are not only revolutionary in terms of the use of new techniques and a predilection for plein air (the Barbizon School) but also for having managed to enter the various Salons who were initially reluctant to include a new pictorial genre so in contrast with traditional academic subjects.

The animalier genre took hold thanks to the increasingly large number of collectors who commissioned it, in the Academies the anatomy and morphology classes had more and more members and the various Salons were no longer able to host such a high number of themed works which were constantly growing, so much so that they opened new sections: Salon des Peintres Animaliers, Salon des Peintres Equestres, Salon des Peintres de Chasse et de Vènerie.

Théophile Gautier in Paris in 1880 wrote: "it seems that these artists could have created an atelier directly in the pastures, they manage to enter so deeply into animal instinct".

To name a few: Theodore Gericault (1791 – 1824) his passion as a knight emerges in all his admiration for the equestrian world, many works have as their subject the horse, celebrated in its most intimate aspects and reveal a total empathy towards the animal, his interest was not focused on the anatomy but on the physical conflict between the horse and man in all his impetuous fragility. His brilliant career was drastically interrupted due to an equestrian accident, but the works pass on to us all the charm and love for this noble animal (Horse scared by lightning 1813 / 14 - The Berber rope in Rome 1817).

Eugène Delacroix (1798 -1863) inspired during his travels by the Arab world, he was fascinated by the bond that unites horse and rider, the animal is venerated as a friend and authentic companion, from his works one perceives a sense of almost mythological fusion, identifying oneself in the figure of the centaur so much so that human movements are in symbiosis with those of horses (Arab Knight 1871).

Rosa Happiness (1822 – 1829) acquired notoriety thanks to a precocious talent that he cultivated under the guidance of his father and brothers. He attended his first Paris Salon at the age of 19. Strong, independent, stubborn, she made her way in an era in which it was almost impossible for women to access recognition and consideration from critics who regardless tried to maintain a chauvinist tradition. Many intellectuals wrote about her: “through the skill of his hands, rabbits, cattle and horses come to life and become truthful and real characters. The cloaks look like clothes, the movements are gestures and intense and profound, almost human gazes appear behind the eye sockets". The animal world is interpreted in its ordinary existence, immortalized with compelling realism and wonderful sensitivity. The Bonheurs were friends of art and animals. (The Horse Market 1853/55).

Even Italy with the Palizzi brothers and their experience can boast a highly respectable collection of works that is part of the animalier panorama, certainly niche compared to a foreign preponderance, just as in the field of sculpture we can demystify the French primacy, a recent publication "Animals and Animaliers in Italian sculpture between Neoclassicism and the twentieth century” amply explains the contradictions that have overshadowed our excellent tradition in favor of our artistic competitors.

The list of Animal Art celebrities is very vast and interesting, in particular in a continuously expanding and updating way, precisely because of the wealth of information yet to be discovered, it is impossible to mention them all, but I have decided to mention only some of the most significant and well-known examples just to give a start to those approaching for the first time .

Many artists known and associated with other genres have nevertheless touched on this intriguing world, dedicating themselves even for short periods to these subjects. Finding unpublished works on the market is very frequent and makes my research even more compelling, as well as singular, unique and authentic, my proposals in the gallery.

Thanks to the collaboration with museums and art historians abroad, I bring to light an exclusive reality, which has a lot to tell and finds interest in the new generations of collectors, who choose a lifestyle in harmony with Nature.