The Origin of Animal Artistry

In 1994, a group of archaeologists found a decorated cave in the south of France. The cave, known as Grotte Chauvet-Pont d’Arc, contained the earliest known pictorial drawings of the Aurignacian people. 

A Need for Expression

Up to this point, everything humans did was for survival. However, there came a point where artistic expression developed. Historians know the inhabitants revisited the cave, adding more drawings for over 5,000 years. It was a shrine, an art gallery, and a memorial to the wildlife around them.

Man as Artist

The over 1,000 catalogued drawings created are some of the greatest forms of art ever made, but what has always captured me about these cave drawings is the idea that before man was a warrior, a builder, or even a farmer, he was an artist — and the first thing he depicted was animals.

The Art of the Animal

It is with that concept I started Animal Artistry. More than just taxidermy, there is an obsession and love for the art of the animal — in gesture, color, and behavior — that we use for inspiration to recreate the animal in all its subtlety and action.

Passion and Respect

Over 40 years later, this passion and respect for wildlife is still at the root of what we do at Animal Artistry. I believe it is the same reason hunters want to recreate their animal in taxidermy form: it is a memory and a memorial to that animal. I hope it never ends.