Art for Animals: Visual Culture and Animal Advocacy, 18701914 (Animalibus: Of Animals and Cultures)

Animal rights activists today regularly use visual imagery in their efforts to shape the public’s understanding of what it means to be “kind,” “cruel,” and “inhumane” toward animals. __Art for Animals__ explores the early history of this form of advocacy through the images and the people who harnessed their power. Following in the footsteps of earlier-formed organizations like the RSPCA and ASPCA, animal advocacy groups such as the Victoria Street Society for the Protection of Animals from Vivisection made significant use of visual art in literature and campaign materials. But, enabled by new and improved technologies and techniques, they took the imagery much further than their predecessors did, turning toward vivid, pointed, and at times graphic depictions of human-animal interactions. Keri Cronin explains why the activist community embraced this approach, details how the use of such tools played a critical role in educational and reform movements in the United States, Canada, and England, and traces their impact in public and private spaces. Far from being peripheral illustrations of points articulated in written texts or argued in impassioned speeches, these photographs, prints, paintings, exhibitions, “magic lantern” slides, and films were key components of animal advocacy at the time, both educating the general public and creating a sense of shared identity among the reformers. Uniquely focused on imagery from the early days of the animal rights movement and filled with striking visuals, __Art for Animals__ sheds new light on the history and development of modern animal advocacy.

Animal rights activists today regularly use visual imagery intheir efforts to shape the public's understanding of what it meansto be "kind," "cruel," and "inhumane" toward animals. Art forAnimals explores the early history of this form of advocacythrough the images and the people who harnessed their power.

Following in the footsteps of earlier-formed organizations likethe RSPCA and ASPCA, animal advocacy groups such as the VictoriaStreet Society for the Protection of Animals from Vivisection madesignificant use of visual art in literature and campaign materials.But, enabled by new and improved technologies and techniques, theytook the imagery much further than their predecessors did, turningtoward vivid, pointed, and at times graphic depictions ofhuman-animal interactions. Keri Cronin explains why the activistcommunity embraced this approach, details how the use of such toolsplayed a critical role in educational and reform movements in theUnited States, Canada, and England, and traces their impact inpublic and private spaces. Far from being peripheral illustrationsof points articulated in written texts or argued in impassionedspeeches, these photographs, prints, paintings, exhibitions, "magiclantern" slides, and films were key components of animal advocacyat the time, both educating the general public and creating a senseof shared identity among the reformers.

Uniquely focused on imagery from the early days of the animalrights movement and filled with striking visuals, Art forAnimals sheds new light on the history and development ofmodern animal advocacy.

"Explores the ways in which visual imagery was used for animal advocacy campaigns in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the ways in which these images were created, circulated, and consumed in a wide range of cultural contexts"--Provided by publisher