In no previous century has the western world shown such widespread interest in wildlife and its identification and conservation as the twentieth. Paintings and prints have both stimulated and reflected this interest. Primarily a pursuit of the wealthy in the nineteenth century, wildlife art then most commonly depicted animals as quarry, as worthy adversaries of the hunter. Today, artists are more likely to focus on the vulnerability of animals to man, and to further the cause of their conservation and the preservation of their habitats. These patterns and trends are examined within the book, with the best examples from the genres reproduced here.
Shortlised for the `1999 BP Natural World Book Prize'.