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"Art" and other primates?

gravitybitch

01:12 / 03.11.05

Does anybody know if other primates (especially ones raised around humans) show any tendency to fingerpaint, draw, or otherwise make "art"?

alejandrodelloco

01:52 / 03.11.05

My first instinct would be to say yes, because it would make sense, but I don't know of an example. The closest thing I can think of is Koko the sign-language gorilla.

All Acting Regiment

03:01 / 03.11.05

Yes, a while ago there was a chimp who did some paintings called Pongo.

All Acting Regiment

03:06 / 03.11.05

Ugh. That wasn't meant to sound sarcastic. I couldn't find any links about Pogo, but here's one about Betsie, another creative chimp:

http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/monkeywire/2004-January/000505.html

Mourne Kransky

09:31 / 03.11.05

A chimp might make a good living out of his art. £14,000 per canvas.

This article examines whether it's "art".

And some chimps benefit from Art Therapy.

I'm not buying that last one at all. Pull the other one. It's got squirrels on.

Don't see anything in my googleage about primates' artistic activities outside of captivity and coaching by humans. Too busy shagging and eating each other, perhaps. The Tracy Emin approach to art.

grant

11:49 / 03.11.05

Song?

and...

In 1951, Paul Schiller observed a female chimpanzee, Alpha, who would rather draw than eat. If there were figures already on a piece of paper she would fill in missing lines or add marks that would "balance" the figures.

modern maenad

09:54 / 05.11.05

Iszabelle - You may find Monkey Painting by Thierry Lenain, or Desmond Morris' The Biology of Art interesting - both deal with subject of great ape and monkey art. Also, When Elephants Paint by Komar and Melamid is beautifal account of an Asian Elephant Art and Conservation Project in Thailand, which rescues elephants abandoned aften the ban on commercial logging, and sells their art to help pay for running of the sanctuary. Also worth a look is Koko's World, which has a large section on Koko and Michael the Gorillas art works. I had this painting, by Michael, called Anger tattoed on my back on my 30th birthday a few years ago....

All Acting Regiment

09:47 / 06.11.05

That picture looks very much like a portrait of a woman.

ghadis

10:09 / 08.11.05

Michael the Gorillas portrait of the dog is pretty damn good...

Less searchable M0rd4nt

10:28 / 08.11.05

I thought that. I wish I could paint like a gorrilla.

gravitybitch

14:14 / 16.11.05

Thanks, all!

(None of it added to the original discussion that prompted the question, but it was hugely enjoyable and I would love to watch the gorillas paint some time...)

And I'd also like to thank each and every one of you for not bringing up Why Cats Paint.

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