The 25 Most Iconic Artworks of Animals

The most important theme in art gets the spotlight.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

Animals have always been an underlying theme in art. Whether artists have used them literally or figuratively, with or without human subjects, they somehow command the composition and make meaning in ways previously unimaginable. Throughout art history, animals have served as vessels for happiness, distress, environmental issues, gender studies, and more. Enjoy The 25 Most Iconic Artworks of Animals and look a little closer next time you're at a museum or gallery.

RELATED: 20 Photos of Artists and Their Animals
RELATED: 20 Animals Who Love Art

LIKE COMPLEX ART+DESIGN ON FACEBOOK

25. "Horse" by Jill Greenberg

Not Available Interstitial

24. "Whistlejacket" by George Stubbs

Not Available Interstitial

23. "Rat King" by Katharina Fritsch

Not Available Interstitial

22. "Lady With an Ermine" by da Vinci

Not Available Interstitial

21. "Two Cats" by Suzanne Valadon

Not Available Interstitial

20. "Still Life with Three Puppies" by Paul Gauguin

Not Available Interstitial

19. "The Beach at Villerville" by Eugene Boudin

Not Available Interstitial

18. "Two Crabs" Vincent van Gogh

Not Available Interstitial

17. "Napoleon Crossing the Alps" by Jacques-Louis David

Not Available Interstitial

16. "Young Hare" by Albrecht Durer

Not Available Interstitial

15. "Garden Path With Chickens" by Gustav Klimt

Not Available Interstitial

14. "Dovima With Elephants" by Richard Avedon

Not Available Interstitial

13. "Officer of the Hussars" by Kehinde Wiley

Not Available Interstitial

12. "Yume Lion" by Takashi Murakami

Not Available Interstitial

11. "Rat Graffiti" by Banksy

Not Available Interstitial

10. "The Dove" by Pablo Picasso

Not Available Interstitial

9. Lascaux France Cave Paintings

Not Available Interstitial

8. "The Elephants" by Salvador Dali

Not Available Interstitial

7. "Fish Lamps" by Frank Gehry

Not Available Interstitial

6. "Self Portrait with Monkeys" by Frida Kahlo 1943

Not Available Interstitial

5. "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living by Damien Hirst

Not Available Interstitial

4. "Cow" by Andy Warhol

Not Available Interstitial

3. "Zodiac Project" by Ai Weiwei

Not Available Interstitial

2. "Balloon Dog" by Jeff Koons

Not Available Interstitial

1. "Guernica" by Pablo Picasso

Not Available Interstitial

Latest in Style