Artistic representation of the animal image objectified in visual arts

This study aims to demonstrate how animal images, which have been objectified from the past to the present, reflects on the visual arts. First, the concepts of object, objectification, and image are elaborated and then, the notion of animal image is investigated. In the second part of the study, the historical period beginning with the animal figures on the walls of caves, the purposes of using animal image in the mythology and in civilizations are analyzed. Different and varying meanings attributed to the use of animal images are explained through the works of art. With the different arguments put forward by philosophers and thinkers, the semantic journey of objectified animal image is endeavored to be explained in the historical process in the light of the works of some artists before and during the era of Modernism. Third part of the study examines those artists who have used objectified animal images in different contexts, together with their works. The discussion on the subject is provided in the last part of the paper.