A is for Animal:
A is for April and the prevention of cruelty
JSTOR is offering up a beastly alphabet in observance of this month, dedicated by the ASPCA to the prevention of cruelty to animals. You may be surprised at the creatures we can conjure.
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- French A giant anteater. Etching. Image and data from the Wellcome Collection. CC BY 4.0.
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- Ami Vitale. A brown bear… 2007. Photograph. Image and data © Ami Vitale / Panos Pictures.
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- Nathaniel Currier, lithographer/publisher. The Favorite Cat. 1838-1846. Lithograph. Image and data from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. CC0 1.0.
A is for Anteater long in the nose
B is for Bear who wanders the globe
C is for Cat, because it must be
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- David Hurn… Famous dog Bwlch Taff. 1992. Photograph. Image and data ©David Hurn / Magnum Photos.
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- Fon. Elephant Figure. 19th century. Silver. Image and data from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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- Herbert Keightley Job. Red Fox. July, 1902. Photograph, lantern slide. Image and data from Trinity College, Watkinson Library.
D is for Dog, our faithful friend
E is for Elephant, a gentle giant
F is for Fox, most cunning
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- Mikkel Ostergaard. A giraffe. 2008. Photograph. Image and data © Mikkel Ostergaard / Panos Pictures.
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- George Stubbs. Whistlejacket. c. 1762. Oil on canvas. Image and data from The National Gallery, London.
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- Unknown Egyptian. Ibis. 664-332 BCE. Wood and bronze. Image and data from the Museum of Arts, Houston.
G is for Giraffe, tall as the trees
H is for Horse, companion and workmate
I is for Ibis, extreme beak and legs
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- Gary Hodges. Clytia phosphorica. Photograph. Image and data from Cornell: Cornell Collection of Blaschka Invertebrate Models.
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- Isaac van Haastert. Kangaroo. 1763 – 1834. Drawing. Image and data from the Rijksmuseum.
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- Stanley N. Botwinik. Leopard portrait. 1970. Photograph. Image and data from the Peabody Museum of Natural History (Yale University).
J is for Jellyfish, shape shifter
K is for Kangaroo in leaps and bounds
L is for Leopard, known by its spots
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- Paul Martinson. North Island Giant Moa. From the series: Extinct Birds of New Zealand. 2005. Watercolor. Image and data from the Museum of New Zealand – Te Papa Tongarewa. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
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- English. A narwhal and large sperm whale. Engraving. Image and data from the Wellcome Collection. CC BY 4.0.
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- Zenú. Owl Staff Head. CE A.D. 1-1000. Gold. Image and data from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. CC0 1.0.
M is for Moa, once giant and flightless
N is for Narwhal, unicorn of the sea
O is for Owl, who owns the night
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- Johann Georg Adam Forster. King Penguin. 17/1/1775. Image and data from the Natural History Museum, London.
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- Port Jackson Painter. … Marsupials, “Mer-re-a-gan” and “Din-e-gow-a”… Quoll. 1788-1797. Watercolour, body colour and ink. Image and data from the Natural History Museum, London.
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- Kaigyokusai (Masatsugu). Rabbit Pair. Mid to late 19th century. Ivory, netsuke. Image and data from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
P is for Penguin, dapper and devoted
Q is for Quoll, quaint marsupial
R is for Rabbit, soft and swift
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- Jan Asselijn. The Enraged Swan. 1640 – 1652. Oil on canvas. Image and data from the Rijksmuseum.
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- Rob Stevenson. Spotted Turtle showing carapace. 2004. Photograph. Image and data from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
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- Andy Warhol . Untitled (unicorn). c. 1956. Ink and Dr. Martin’s Aniline dye. Image and data from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
S is for Swan ruling the waterways
T is for Turtle safe in its shell
U is for Unicorn and uber unique
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- René Clarke. Fire the Vampire. September 18, 1920 (The Saturday Evening Post). Print. Image and data from Washington University.
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- Enook Manomie. Sitting Walrus. 1983. Soapstone, ivory. Image and data from the Smith College Museum of Art.
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- Robert Jacob Gordon. Xerus inauris. 1777-1786. Drawing. Image and data from the Rijksmuseum.
V is for Vampire bat, dining by night
W is for Walrus, a wall of a beast
X is for Xerus who owns X
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- Abu’l Hasan and Nadir al Zaman. Tibetan Yak. c. 1610. Miniature, opaque watercolor. Image and data from the Asian Art Archives, University of Michigan.
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- Stanley N. Botwinik. Zebra poster (faux colors). Photograph. Image and data from the Peabody Museum of Natural History (Yale University).
Y is for Yak, the ox with a Y
Z is for Zebra, boldly striped
Further, try searches with these and other animalist artists: Rosa Bonheur, George Stubbs, Paulus Potter, Tsugoharu Foujita, William Wegman, John James Audubon, Edwin Landeer, Rembrandt Bugatti, Antoine-Louis Barye, Eadweard Muybridge. And finally, the collections below will yield more fabulous fauna:
- American Museum of Natural History
- Cook’s Voyages to the South Seas (Natural History Museum, London)
- Cornell: Laboratory of Ornithology Gallery of Bird and Wildlife Art
- First Fleet Collection (Natural History Museum, London)
- Hill Ornithology Collection (Cornell University Library)
- Magnum Photos
- Open Artstor: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Open Artstor: Wellcome Collection
- Panos Pictures
- Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (Harvard University)
- RISD Library Visual Resources: Nature Forms
- Roanoke College Freshwater Fish Collection
- Trinity College Watkinson Library: Enders Ornithology Lantern Slides
- Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History
- Yale Center for British Art
- Wheaton College (MA): Shell Collection
– Nancy Minty, collections editor