Animal Century
Animal Century (Animal Century by Maria Pishvanova) is an art collection with over 200 portraits of dogs, cats and other animals, portrayed in clothes. It was founded in 1989 by the artist Maria Pishvanova. There are portraits of more than 100 breeds of dogs and cats in the collection.
History and recent years
The collection was started with the painting Kitten in a Boot, that Pishvanova created in 1989. She liked the result so much, that she decided to create more paintings, with animals and clothes as the main objects. The artist stated, that her inspiration for creating such portraits is everything art, fashion and animals.
Portraits from the collection are notable for their realistic style in depicting animals and clothing, combined with the individual visionary of the artist. The collection is regularly updated with new portraits.
Kingdom
Artists of Animal Century also define the collection as an imaginary kingdom, where fairy-tale animals live - characters from portraits, named "residents of the Kingdom".[1]
The Royal Contest of Animals
In June 2012 the first Royal Contest of Animals (RCA) was started at the Instagram account of Animal Century. The winning pet of the contest was to appear on a painting from the collection, as well as to become the next "resident of the Kingdom". In August the first winner was announced.
The second RCA was held at the Facebook page of Animal Century from October 5 to November 5, 2012. The contest attracts many people from all over the world.