Society of Animal Artists—Art and the Animal

Society of Animal Artists—Art and the Animal The Society of Animal Artists (SAA) got started in the 1950s, when the New York Zoological Society sponsored an exhibition at the Burr Gallery. The enthusiastic reception for Animals in Bronx Zoo inspired Patricia Allen Bott and Guido Borghi to form the SAA. Since 1960, the society has organized fifty-nine annual exhibitions. Sportsman’s Edge, Grand Central, Alder and other New York galleries, presented the early shows. In 1980, the Game Conservation International hosted the SAA’s first annual convention, in conjunction with the opening of its 20th annual exhibition, at the Four Seasons Plaza Nacional Hotel in San Antonio, Texas. SAA adopted the name Art and the Animal for its annual exhibitions in 1988.

Society of Animal Artists—Art and the Animal Art and the Animal is a contribution to the rich history of one of the world’s proudest art traditions. Since the earliest paintings on cave walls and cliff faces, the relationships between humans and animals have been drawn by artists around the globe. Beginning with explorer-artists and continuing with the best contemporary painters and sculptors working today, wildlife has been a consistent subject in American art. To early artists and patrons, wildlife represented a seemingly endless bounty of available natural resources. Europe had a proud cultural history, while North America had amazing natural wonders, expanses of untouched land, and plentiful wildlife. Today, animal art is interpreted from a multitude of different perspectives—preservationist, conservationist, nostalgic, escapist, realist, or simply beautiful. The Briscoe Western Art Museum is hosting this 59th annual SAA exhibition so that its members and guests may see the connections between animals and art in ways that prompt greater appreciation for the wilderness that remains at the heart of what makes North America so exceptional.

Society of Animal Artists—Art and the Animal https://www.briscoemuseum.org/art-and-the-animal/ Dates: September 20-January 5 Will do Tuesday night Drop-in Tours at 6:30 during the run of the exhibition Preview Thursday, September 19 Wild West, Wildlife! community day Saturday, September 21 Wild Texas Film Tour Sunday, September 22