‘Ruff’ sketches: Animal portraits in the style of old masters

December 29, 2021

Transforming pet photos into old masters is big business for Dutch artist Tein Lucasson. In 2016, when the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam released many of its works into the public domain, Lucasson digitally inserted a photo of his beloved labradoodle Ventje into one of the paintings.

Since then, the Dutch graphic designer and visual artist has turned hundreds of cats, dogs and guinea pigs into works of art for his website L’animorphe, reports The Guardian.

He collects the portraits, along with his paintings of wild animals—such as zebras, flamingos, and raccoons—in a series of books published by the German, family owned company teNeues .

“It started as something I did for fun and it turned into a company,” he says. “The portraits are not meant to be anything other than a remembrance of the love of a dog or a cat. But it’s turned into something bigger.”

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