Hear audio clips about VMFA artworks.
Listen to and sing along with Kid Pan Alley’s original song “Living in a Musical”, inspired by Reinagle’s An Extraordinary Musical Dog!
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The artist George Catlin kept journals and published accounts of his time in the American west. Listen to a Catlin’s description of his first close encounter with wild horses.
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Listen to and sing along with Kid Pan Alley’s original song “I’ve Got a Lot to Learn Before I Can Be Me”, inspired by James Prosek’s Flying Fish!
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It might be easy to think of the horses themselves as the only athletes competing in horse races, but as this excerpt from Laura Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit details, jockeys must be in top physical condition in order to pilot their steeds to victory.
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Listen to a recording from the sculptor Herbert Haseltine’s writings describing his meeting with the prize-winning pig, Wharfedale Deliverance.
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Whether wild beast, treasured pet, or otherworldly creature, animals have captivated artists for thousands of years.
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Listen to and sing along with Kid Pan Alley’s original song “Stay Close By My Side”, inspired by Ward’s painting of a mare and her foal!
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Listen to and sing along with Kid Pan Alley’s original song “I’m a Lonely Tiger”, inspired by Stubbs’ painting Tiger!
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Commissioners of portraits can be particular when it comes to how the artist depicts their subject, even when the “sitters” are animals! English wood engraver Thomas Bewick describes an artistic dilemma when confronted by a patron who demanded changes to Bewick’s naturalistic depiction of sheep.
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Dogs have been called “man’s best friend”, but when did these close bonds first take shape? The Belgian author Maurice Maeterlinck wonders about the origins of our canine companionship in this excerpt from his book Our Friend the Dog.
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