Micro-Landscapes of the Anthropocene

To sevarbugfolgenate in paintings

My interest in how insects have been depicted by writers (such as Virgina Woolf) in literature led me off the garden path onto the history of insects in artworks. While there are many scientifically accurate and extremely detailed and beautiful drawings and sketches of bugs and butterflies, what caught my attention were artists who featured insects in their artworks, but whose main subject and main intention of painting were not related to insects at all. I have curated a selection of such artworks on this page, most of which are self-portraits, all of which focus the artistic gaze upon a human subject with a tiny bug friend or two included within the frame.

Our header image of a lady sitting so still that the artist had enough time to paint a fly on her headdress. 

A self portrait of the artist, his wife, and their flies? 

A self portrait of the artist, her pet bird, caterpillars, and a butterfly. 

- Steph Philipov, z3417828

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