Fantastical Beasts
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Tree of meat (Baum aus Fleisch)
Paul Verstraten
Painting - 110 x 150 x 2 cm Painting - 43.3 x 59.1 x 0.8 inch
€1,950
Propagation - Nautilus
Suoyuan Wang
Fine Art Drawings - 20 x 20 x 2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.8 inch
€1,050
Dave Mattheus & Tim Reynolds
Alan Berry Rhys
Print - 62 x 46 x 1 cm Print - 24.4 x 18.1 x 0.4 inch
€230
Just a horse with no name and a silly flame
Teodor Genov – Pastedko
Painting - 27 x 37 x 0.2 cm Painting - 10.6 x 14.6 x 0.1 inch
€550
Méduses des mers d'aciers
Looki
Sculpture - 68 x 70 x 21 cm Sculpture - 26.8 x 27.6 x 8.3 inch
€1,450
Panama (Baby Elephant)
Thomas Turner
Sculpture - 64 x 48 x 10 cm Sculpture - 25.2 x 18.9 x 3.9 inch
€1,200
Freedom loving fish fighting against weight force (Freiheitsliebender Fisch gegen die Gewichtskraft kämpfend)
Paul Verstraten
Painting - 110 x 140 x 2 cm Painting - 43.3 x 55.1 x 0.8 inch
€1,600
The Fastest Sagittal (Peregrine Falcon)
Hugh Turvey
Photography - 80 x 80 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 inch
€1,479
Trinidad, One of a Kind
Tahuanty Jacanamijoy
Painting - 35 x 27 x 0.3 cm Painting - 13.8 x 10.6 x 0.1 inch
€962
P-omme (Paix - Homme)
Youngmi Kim
Painting - 100 x 100 x 3.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.4 inch
€1,800
Turbulences - Bestiaire
Pierre Le Preux
Painting - 100 x 150 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 59.1 x 1.2 inch
€2,900
Métamorphose d’un Roi
Chahrazed Fekih
Photography - 12.5 x 18 x 0.2 cm Photography - 4.9 x 7.1 x 0.1 inch
€500
Stilt Walkers
Gabrielle Pool
Fine Art Drawings - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€555
Fontaine de Jouvence III
Patricia Dubois
Painting - 113 x 150 x 3.5 cm Painting - 44.5 x 59.1 x 1.4 inch
€3,644
Sans titre
Meteo Meteo
Fine Art Drawings - 21 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 8.3 x 11.7 x 0 inch
€105
Drôles d'oiseaux !
Sabine Louriac
Painting - 65 x 50 x 0.3 cm Painting - 25.6 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
€540
A song of nature
Aurélie Trabaud
Fine Art Drawings - 50 x 50 x 1.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.6 inch
€1,800
Games People Play
Mikhail Baranovskiy
Painting - 100 x 70 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 27.6 x 1.2 inch
€2,500
Papillon sur le mur
Christine Guillemin
Sculpture - 40 x 100 x 20 cm Sculpture - 15.7 x 39.4 x 7.9 inch
€10,500
Série: Natura facit saltus - deplacage (Entpanzerung)
Edgar Lissel
Photography - 120 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 35.4 x 0 inch
€8,000
Foxes by moonlight
Peter de Boer
Painting - 120 x 170 x 2 cm Painting - 47.2 x 66.9 x 0.8 inch
€5,000
Mini taureau argenté alvéolé
Imfré Gite
Sculpture - 12 x 22 x 13 cm Sculpture - 4.7 x 8.7 x 5.1 inch
€450
Les Mange-Peurs, La Faiblesse (poudre de cuivre)
Olivier Tenedor
Print - 50 x 33 x 1 cm Print - 19.7 x 13 x 0.4 inch
€200
Vautour
Lionel le Jeune
Fine Art Drawings - 42 x 29 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.5 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€300
La persane
Catherine Clare
Painting - 65 x 50 x 2.5 cm Painting - 25.6 x 19.7 x 1 inch
€1,200 €1,080
Briquet tempête
Cekyka Art
Fine Art Drawings - 29.7 x 21 x 0.02 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.7 x 8.3 x 0 inch
€299
Les Mange-Peurs, La Pauvreté
Olivier Tenedor
Print - 50 x 33 x 1 cm Print - 19.7 x 13 x 0.4 inch
€100
On the origin of rain
Ciprian Mihailescu
Painting - 60 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
€5,000
Renart, le Goupil
Monsieur Térez
Sculpture - 42 x 55 x 20 cm Sculpture - 16.5 x 21.7 x 7.9 inch
€1,600
Doble Standard 7. From the series doble standard
James Bonachea
Fine Art Drawings - 37.8 x 25.9 x 0.3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 14.9 x 10.2 x 0.1 inch
€962
Matthew Barney, Cremaster 5, Gellert Bath House, Budapest
Michael James O'Brien
Photography - 61 x 43.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 24 x 17 x 0.1 inch
€3,847
Untitled 62
Julieta Intergalactica
Fine Art Drawings - 21 x 14.8 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.1 inch
€240
Transgénose 19
Emmanuel Lesgourgues
Fine Art Drawings - 75 x 100 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 29.5 x 39.4 x 0 inch
€3,600
Fantastical Beasts
The bestiary can be considered to exist as a literary genre from the Middles-Ages on. Indeed, we can find examples in manuscripts dating from that period. These writings summarise the characteristics of each creature, and sometimes the fables and morals associated to them. Consequently, these manuscripts represent our collective profound interest for the classification and analysis of the animal world. But the idea of a bestiary, especially of fantastical beasts, has its origins rooted in times as ancient as the day men began to tell stories about the creatures they saw. Ancient Egyptian spiritual culture, for example, is filled with fantastic creatures such as the sphinx; a hybrid species also present in Greek mythology!
Just as the men of the Paleolithic decorated the walls of the Lascaux cave with the silhouettes of the animals they encountered, the interest in illustrating the animal world, real and imagined, has continued to inspire artists to this day. In the Renaissance, interest in curiosities (exotic or otherwise-particular objects and items) was the catalyst for a number of collections, and studies of flora and fauna. And although the animals were not fantastical per se, they were still imagined beasts - fantasized, even! Indeed, it isn't easy to paint a rhinoceros without having ever seen one, basing one's practice solely on the theatrical accounts of the rare travelers back from Africa…
Today, artists around the world draw inspiration from the mythical creatures of the collective imagination. They regularly invent new conceptions of the animal world, conceptions that push the boundaries of the supernatural. It must be said that a bestiary, especially of fantastical beasts, attracts an audience of all ages. For the little ones, it feeds the imagination. For the adults, depending on the work, it can offer an escape from daily life, a trip back to childhood, or even an invitation to reflection or spiritual thought!
In terms of decor, a work of art inspired by fantastical beasts gives a dreamlike dimension to an interior. In a children's bedroom, for example, it will inspire many dreams, and offer young spirits a window view of imagination that they can contemplate and re-interpret over and over again. In a living room, it will bring a unique and extravagant touch to your walls, and will certainly be the starter of many conversations with your guests.
If you're only just discovering the world of fantastical beasts, you may need some advice… Start, then, with the zodiac scenes of Raymond Peynet. For a more traditional feel and a more tribal aesthetic, may we suggest the paintings of Indian artist Ram Singh Urveti? If it's the majesty of mythology that inspires you, talk a walk through Salvador Dalí's sculptures, and if you would rather go for a lighter genre of animal representation, look no further than Emilie Bouguereau's terrestrial paradise-meets-safari watercolors!