Year of the rabbit and the cat

The Cat is the 4th animal symbol in the 12-year cycle of the Vietnamese zodiac and Gurung zodiac, taking place of the Rabbit in the Chinese zodiac.

Some of our talented artists work with other themes, and as more than a billion people globally will welcome the Year of the Rabbit and Cat we choose to show you a few other sculptures and drawings inspired by domestic and wild animals.

This week we prepared an exceptional selection of artworks dedicated to rabbits, hares, cats and other members of the cat family.

Jan Sweeney (UK)

Jan Sweeney is an international wildlife sculptor, her sculpture is instantly recognisable; full of energy and movement, with strong texture and trademark hollow eyes. She is adept at capturing wildlife in motion. She uses a hot bronze casting method that makes the sculpture almost indestructible.

Her love of all animals is supremely exemplified in all of her sculpture. Some catching that moment, whether the poise before the pounce of a big cat or the sudden turn of a swerving hare. She now spends much of her time in South Africa working on her beloved animals.

"My work is inspired by watching these animals in their natural habitat where the unwary die. It is the restrained power, always ready to explode into flight or attack, that I want to translate into bronze."
Jan Sweeney

Her work is held in private collections around the world, notably in the BP Collection Harare, and the First National Bank Collection in Johannesburg. She is an Associate Member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors, a Fellow of the Wildlife Arts Society and a member of the US Animal Artists Association.

Rabbit bronze sculptures by Jan Sweeney

1). WHO’S THERE (Dimensions: 16cm x 27cm)

2). MAYBE AND TWISTER (Dimensions: 61cm x 35cm and 46cm x 29cm)

3). ALERT (Dimensions: 48cm x 27cm)

4). LOOK (Dimensions: 74cm x 23cm)

5). CATCH ME (Dimensions: 79cm x 53cm)

6). TREE CHEETAH DOWN (Dimensions: 35cm x 24cm)

7). TREE CHEETAH LOOKOUT (Dimensions: 27cm x 26cm)

8). PLAYTIME (Dimensions: 18cm x 18cm)

9). JUMPING LION (Dimensions: 39cm x 25cm)

10). STRETCH (Dimensions: 68cm x 20cm)

11). FULL STRETCH (Dimensions: 60cm x 24cm)

12). FLYING CHEETAH (Dimensions: 38cm x 18cm)

13). BIG LANDING CHEETAH (Dimensions: 160cm x 188cm)

14). BIG TURNING CHEETAH (Dimensions: 141cm x 80cm)

Wild animals bronze sculptures by Jan Sweeney

Edward Waites (UK)

Edward Waites is an established British sculptor whose works have featured in prestigious exhibitions and collections internationally, including a commissioned piece for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

His work is primarily comprised of depictions of animals and wildlife, and is shaped by his passion for the vitality, energy and grace of his subjects. He employs the age-old process of working with clay and casting in bronze and silver, and his resulting aesthetic showcases strength and polish.

1). Boxing Hares (Dimensions:60 x 40 x 20cm)

2). Lion Duo (Dimensions:60 x 45 x 35cm)

3). Leopard Descent (Dimensions:30 x 24 x 10cm)

4). Leopard Descent (Dimensions:90 x 72 x 30cm)

5). Lion Bust (Dimensions:60 x 60 x 25 cm)

6). Cheetah Trio (Dimensions:100 x 28 x 10cm)

7). Lioness (Dimensions:40 x 21 x 36cm)

8). Snow Leopard (Dimensions:25 x 23 x 20cm)

Wild animals bronze sculptures by Edward Waites

Marie Ackers (France)

Initially inspired by the old master and "French Animalier", french artist Marie Ackers has gone beyond realism and tradition to capture a contemporary interpretation of animals. In her work, Marie deconstruct the movements, trip down to pure lines, simplify the shapes and identify the dynamic and the rhythms of the lines to produce contemporary and distinctively elegant sculpture inextricably associated with but yet completely independent of reality.

Marie s work can be found in various galleries in the UK and Europe and recently the Gold walking cheetah and the bronze polished sitting cheetah have been accepted in the "Salon des Artistes Francais 2021" in Paris.

Her inspiration comes from various sources from the “French animalier” to the simplicity and purity of Brancusi’s work, the shapes and presence of Henry Moore sculptures, the sharp and clean lines of Calder metal sculptures as well as Pompom, Lynn Chadwick, architecture old and modern.

"I remove unnecessary details, simplifying the work down to strong lines that represent the animal, an attitude, or a movement".

Marie Ackers

Wild animals sculptures by Marie Ackers 

1) Small sitting cheetah (41x20x10cm), polished bronze

2) The sitting cheetah (100x40x40xcm), marble resine

3) Small cat (37x20x20cm), bronze

4). The walking cheetah (100x48x35 cm), bronze

5). walking cheetah (100x48x35cm), patinated resine 

Colorful chromed resine sculptures:

Black cat sitting (37x20x20cm)

Lying cats (30x20 and 25x20 cm)

Cat sculptures by Marie Ackers

Andrey Kazantsev (Rusia)

The world of steel and iron has always been incredibly attractive to Andrey Kazantsev. In 2018, he created his first metal sculpture — a cat. The exciting process of turning a flat cold sheet into a three-dimensional "animated" animal with a special character was the beginning of the artist's birth.

Strict geometry, impeccable architecture of flat faces, minimalism, conciseness combined with elegance have become the artist's hallmark.

Andrey Kazantsev is one of the most successful artists of last years, his amazing contemporary steel sculptures were exhibited in World Dubai Expo, and are in private collections in USA, UAE, Europe.

1). Lion head (58x55,5x56cm)

2). Lion sitting (100x94x55cm)

3). Cheetah (76x54x35,5cm and 160x106x75cm)

4). Cat (40x31x22cm and 50x39x28cm)

Polygonal animal sculptures by Andrey Kazantsev

Tianyin Wang (UK)

Tianyin Wang is an artist working primarily in charcoal drawing.

Between 2009-2015 he worked as a digital-based editorial illustrator with prestigious clients including Oxford University Press, Bloomsbury Publishing and STYLIST magazine.

From 2015, Tianyin started to develop his unique charcoal drawing technique using a combination of different charcoals to achieve a distinctive look.

This unique style is best described as “motion impressionism”.

Hare (40x50 cm), charcoal on paper

Cat (42x59 cm), charcoal on paper

Charcoal drawings by Tianyin Wang

For more details about these artworks please contact us by chat or email km@katerinamorgan.art.