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Self-Taught Artists Celebrate the Animal Kingdom: Morris Hirshfield, Bill Traylor, Niko Pirosmani, Raija Nokkala & German Ramon Duron

A popular subject among many artists, “the animal kingdom” is particularly embraced by those who are self-taught. The image featured above, Angora Cat, was rendered by the late Polish-American artist Morris Hirshfield in the late 1930’s after he had retired as a women’s tailor and footwear manufacturer. Several more images of self-taught artists’ renditions of animals — as seen in a range of diverse settings — follow:

The late African-American, Alabama-native Bill Traylor, “Untitled,” ca. 1939-42, Opaque watercolor and graphite on beige card — as seen earlier this year at SAAM in DC

The late Georgian artist Niko Pirosmani, “Roebuck and Landscape,” Oil on cardboard — as seen back in 2018 at the Albertina Museum in Vienna

Finnish artist Raija Nokkala, “Watching and Worrying,” 2018, Acrylic on canvasas seen last month at GINA Gallery of International Naïve Art in Tel Aviv

Honduran artist German Ramon Duron, “The Calling (Noah’s Ark),” 2017-19, Oil on canvas, as seen last year at GINA Gallery of International Naïve Art in Tel Aviv

Photos of images: Lois Stavsky