COMING SOON
Cheer for the Home Team!
Animal Mascots in the Collection
May 16 – September 14, 2014
countries have chosen the tiger as a
national symbol, including India and
Vietnam. The bald eagle is a symbol of the
United States.
Gladys: Do animals have special meanings
in art?
Melchior de Hondecoeter, Dutch, 1636-1695, Landscape with Fowl, c. 1680s.
Oil on canvas. Gift of Flora McIver Barringer to the CMA in 1970.
Recently, the CMA’s family mascot, Gladys
the grasshopper, sat down with CMA
Curator Victoria Cooke to talk about this
summer’s exhibition, Cheer for the Home
Team! Animal Mascots in the Collection.
This exhibition draws together 37 works
from all areas of the CMA collection
featuring animals that serve as mascots for
American colleges and universities.
Gladys: Animals have always been popular
with artists, even during the prehistoric era.
Why have animals been so popular in art?
Victoria: One thing that binds all of us
together is that animals are important
to human beings in every culture across
the planet. Some provide nourishment,
like milk, or material for clothing, like
wool. Strong animals like horses provide
4
columbiamuseum.org
transportation. And many live with
people as valued companions. Even wild
and dangerous animals are beautiful and
fascinating to watch, which makes them
great subject matter for artists.
Animals also serve symbolic roles in
different cultures. Often a family coat-ofarms in Europe will include an animal with
significance to the family’s identity. People
often have animal nicknames. For example,
during the American Revolution, General
Thomas Sumter became known as the
“South Carolina Gamecock” because of his
fierce fighting style.
In America, each state has an official
state bird. The brown pelican represents
Louisiana and the mockingbird represents
five states, including Tennessee. Several
Victoria: When you see an animal in a
painting or sculpture, it can symbolize
many different things. The CMA has a
large landscape painting in the exhibition
by the 17th-century Dutch artist Melchior
de Hondecoeter that features two beautiful
and impressive roosters. One looks a
lot like a gamecock. In Dutch painting,
roosters are associated with wild and
naughty behavior. In the 19th-century
Chinese porcelain vase in the exhibition,
roosters symbolize qualitie ́