Exhibition 'Animal Galore' in Kunstmuseum Den Haag
The Gemeentemuseum Den Haag’s new Animals Galore exhibition presents an amazing multiplicity of animals. A sweep of the museum’s rich and varied decorative arts, fashion and sculpture collections has yielded an extraordinary diversity of species from around the world: everything from camels to quail and from dragonflies to rays. Together, they tell new tales about inspiration down the centuries and influences between east and west, about imitation, and about the use and re-use of different media.
Animals are a favourite subject in the decorative arts and are associated with a wealth of symbolic meanings in both oriental and western cultures. For example, dragons have protective and auspicious connotations that make them a common feature of oriental ceramics and textiles. Similarly, the owl’s status as a symbol of wisdom made it extremely popular among Dutch decorative artists in the early twentieth century. But symbolism was not the only reason why the animal kingdom has so often been a source of inspiration for artists and designers throughout history. The many shapes and colours of living creatures also account for the extraordinary popularity of objects featuring them. And artists are used to drawing from nature as part of their training.
