Primate Aesthetics

Artists have had access to monkeys, whether in their own menageries, or those of their patrons, for centuries. And those monkeys, as a matter of course, had access to art materials. Yet no paintings or drawings executed by non-human primates prior to the twentieth century survive today. However, I came across a tantalizing anecdote23 that […]

In 1997, Thierry Lenain, a senior lecturer in Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, published the book Monkey Painting. Lenain was familiar with Desmond Morris’ work with Congo in The Biology of Art, but after conducting his own research into the field of primate visual behavior, he had […]

At the age of eighteen, Desmond Morris was idly wandering the stacks of the library when a book caught his eye. When he unshelved it and scanned its pages, Morris stumbled across a host of macabre etchings; dismembered bodies, demonic creatures, violence, and death were suspended in time on each page. Goya’s The Disasters of […]

I was first introduced to the concept of an embedded art practice by the work of Frances Whitehead. Over the years she has applied her skills as an artist to many fields outside of the art world: public works, land and water remediation, architecture, and city planning. And in her role as an embedded artist, […]

In 2005, three paintings by Congo went up for auction. The works sold for $25,620—outselling works by Renoir and Warhol at the same event. Indeed, the lot outsold Morris’ own artwork, the highest price realized at auction being $17,656.38 I wonder how Morris feels about Congo’s artistic success. I think he must be proud, because […]