Read this Wildlife Art Journal article

From the cave grottos of Lascaux to the forged bronzes of Animalier sculptors, and spanning the pace-setting pioneers of every significant art movement during the last millennium, wildlife in France and Belgium has appeared often as thematic muses for human reflection.  Whether visited for spiritual, cultural, or biological reasons, or employed even as symbols of sublimation to the material indulgences of civilization, wild nature strikes a pose that still looms large in both countries.

To be a truly original  21st century artist means constant awareness of the fine art continuum, as well as the vagaries of Ivory Tower bias, that  present both opportunities and burdens.

Wildlife Art Journal asked multi-media French artist Laurence Saunois to curate a sampling of works from 10 contemporary painters, sculptors, and photographer colleagues.  What she has assembled is a feast of imagery that offers something for everyone.

"I selected these artists not only because their works are beautiful but also because they have a very particular relationship with animals and with nature,"  Saunois (right) says. "Many of them are naturalists. They study animals, their customs, and their behavior before painting or sculpturing them. Some of them are professionals, others not but they have all in common a  boundless passion for the art and the animals. Passion is their driving force."

It is, for many admirers of wildlife art, a very curious thing to witness the ongoing struggle for acceptance confronting artists in Europe, a fountainhead for creative evolution going...