We’ve seen them, the interesting little article online showing some ADORABLE elephant with his trunk wrapped around a paintbrush, paintings broad, quick strokes on a canvas..
Most of the vendors that sell these animal paintings donate a portion of the proceeds to the zoo or animal rights groups. Strangely, these paintings don’t look half bad. In my opinion, they are nearly indistinguishable from an abstract artist’s work. But are they art?
As many would say, the one thing that separates humans from the animals is art. We are smarter, have more complex brains, and have produced amazing inventions. Zookeepers merely give the animals a paintbrush and an empty canvas. They have no concept of art history; they cannot be inspired by the works of Michelangelo or Rodin or Kandinsky.
Is it any different depending on the animal? Along with elephants, monkeys (chimpanzees in particular) also participate in these zoo animal painting classes. ‘Monkey paintings’ as they are known, were a fad in the 60’s in many famous modern art museums. We humans undoubtedly can relate more to chimps than to elephants. Does this mean what they do is art? Their work is aesthetically pleasing and could easily be confused with a human’s.
I believe that this cannot be considered art. It is limited to human beings with higher thought. Just because a monkey can hold a paintbrush and makes nice-looking strokes does not make the piece art.
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