I never know where my blogging mind will take me. How on earth did I think of pursuing the history of art through cows? Blame my attempt to defuse Damien Hirst’s cows in silicone and acrylic with William Robinson’s humorous cows after an art workshop in Stanthorpe. That was the genesis. Then I saw another cow in Artonview as I auditioned the articles for disposal. This cow was created by Linde Ivimey in 2001 out of steel armature, cotton fibre, fowl and cow bones, ostrich egg, ostrich feathers, string and earth.
Genesis!
Suddenly I wanted to investigate the cow in art, not because I have a particular affinity with cows, but because they seemed to be pouring out of artists everywhere I looked.
I embarked on a long journey; Lascaux cave paintings, Neolithic carvings, Egyptian murals, landscape art, expressionists, impressionists, Croatian naive art, cubists, abstract artists, pop artists, sculpture, photography, street art, children’s art. You name a movement or a medium: there was a cow.
So here you have it. A slightly demented and definitely idiosyncratic history of art in cows.
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snippetsandsnaps 
Amazing how many artists you have found with a fascination for cows. I particularly like the child’s painting. I milked cows for many years in NZ so I also have a fondness for them.
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There are great gaps – nothing between 1600 and 1850-ish. I did have a Constable in mind, but that’s as far as it got, and I needed to put cows to rest. That child’s painting has so much character.
Is there anything you haven’t done? My encounters with real cows up close are minimal, although one recalcitrant calf became my poetic muse after an afternoon trying to help my brother move him: probably the best poem I’ve ever written, and I composed it in my head and remembered it – all three stanzas. Those were the days!
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Now you should’ve included that poem in your cow post…
https://pommepal.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/sydney-day-1-sx40-100_4000x3000.jpg?w=1035&h=777
This is my all time favourite cow painting Spring Frost. Elioth Gruner
It brings back so many memories of rounding the cows up on frosty, finger biting mornings.
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I had this one too, but I couldn’t find it when I needed to post. I love the way the light falls – and I love the way we to and fro. Thank you. the cow poem? In my brother’s visitors’ book!
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Can’t give you a cow, but how about a bull?
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OK!
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I didn’t expect you to actually give me a bull! What a beauty. (How did you add a photo to comment?)
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The photo was in my media library and in a post so I just opened it and copied the URL and pasted it into the comment box.
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I love Linde Ivemey’s work. It is always so stimulating and provocative. There is a Melbourne print maker who does great cows too – Geoffrey Ricardo.
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I’d never come across Ivemey before the article in “Artonview”, but I’m always fascinated by strange materials and the minds that conceive of using them. I’ve checked out Ricardo too, thank you. I was amused by “The bum steer” and “Ramshackle” picks up on a theme dear to my heart, and reminds me of another word for my ruin lexicon.
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No bull-jumpers from Knossos? However a very interesting and wide-ranging set of images. I particularly appreciated the one painted by a child.
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It was my favourite I think. I could have included a lot more, but I needed to get rid of the obsession so I can think about banksias.
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