Mouse Muse: The Mouse in Art

by Lorna Owen

A beautifully designed introduction to art history by way of artworks that feature the mouse―from the ancient world to drawings by Picasso, Disney, and Art Spiegelman.   Across centuries and civilizations, artists have used the mouse―the planet’s most common mammal after us―to illustrate our myths and beliefs. Mice have appeared as Japanese symbols of good luck or medieval emblems of evil, in Arab fables, Russian political satire and Nazi propaganda, as scientific tools and to help us challenge the way we see nature.   With more than 80 rarely reproduced works―including paintings by Hieronymus Bosch and Gustav Klimt, a silkscreen by Andy Warhol, a print by Hokusai, a photograph by André Kertész, a sculpture by Claes Oldenburg, a video installation by Bruce Nauman, a performance by Joseph Beuys, and many more―Lorna Owen has created an engaging presentation of an extraordinary range. The pieces, which represent every period of visual art, are accompanied by Owen’s intriguing text about the story behind each work. She has combined her passion for art and her empathy for the unsung archetype of the animal kingdom to explain not only how or why the artist came to use the mouse as a subject, but how the art, in the end, reveals more about us than it could ever reveal about this humble creature.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History

168 pages, Hardcover

First published October 14, 2014

Reviews

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starting with bronze sculptures in the Roman Empire, Owen makes her way through art history looking for mice in art, from background figures to the main subject, and in all sorts of different mediums, including sculpture and ceramics, engravings and paintings, photography and video stills.

She includes photographies of the works with an accompanying story behind the artwork and a brief biography of the artist. Predictably, Mickey Mouse and Art Spiegelman's Maus are featured. I wasn't familiar with the majority of the artwork and I was taken by a few, in particular Shibata Zeshin's luxuriously fluffy mouse, Terence Cuneo's hidden mouse in Night Freight, John Baldessari's Two Onlookers and a Tragedy (with Mice) which is equal parts charming and heartbreaking (cw: dead mouse in a trap), and Trey Friedman "Close Mouse", who said something very interesting after taking photos of a very uncooperative mouse he wanted to reference for his oil painting:

"For years the artist had been trying to find a way to paint the wildlife. It was a natural extension of the theme that has thread throughout his figurative works and landscapes since he started painting in his early teens: the discomfort of man at the edge of the forest, the mess we make in trying to tame the wilderness. But he always ended up omitting any creatures. He argued that we couldn’t really see animals—as our equals with whom we share the land; that we are blinded by the sheer ubiquity of images and by our perceptions and by our fears, by the kitsch, the cuddly and the fierce, the symbolism and the metaphor. Then upon meeting a wildlife rehabilitator he saw an opportunity to show not only the adverse effect of man’s relationship with nature but the unanticipated benefit as well. Through a series of paintings of mammals who were being rehabilitated, having been hit by a car, having lost their mother or their habitat, their tree chopped down, he could give them the prominence they deserved, an animal-centric motive for representation—Chuck Close-up-close style, enormous portraits centered on paper.

A couple of squirrels, an opossum, a baby raccoon, and a small brown bat, each with his/her own tale. And the deer mouse. The oil paintings were completed, framed and hung in the studio.

The reaction was like the brittle leaves in the fall.

His dealer said, “You know…these are not for our clients.” The rehabber lamented, “Oh, I thought the paintings were going to be bigger.” A friend laughed nervously, facing one of the squirrels, “It’s staring at me.” The distinguished elder art patron told Friedman he admired his clear and unwavering intention in his art and his solid technique, and added, “I can see what you are doing here. But animals—” The patron’s wife joined in, “The eyes! They’re frightening!”

It wasn’t that these individuals couldn’t see the animals but that the animals could see them."

I just found Owen's blog, Mouse Interrupted, and I haven't taken a very long look but I can already see a few entries that are in this book, and a few that aren't. Worth exploring!

[Stella Temenu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Across centuries and civilizations, artists have used the mouse—the planet’s most common mammal after us—to illustrate our myths and beliefs. Mice have appeared as Japanese symbols of good luck or medieval emblems of evil, in Arab fables, Russian political satire and Nazi propaganda, as scientific tools and to help us challenge the way we see nature.

With more than 80 rarely reproduced works—including paintings by Hieronymus Bosch and Gustav Klimt, a silkscreen by Andy Warhol, a print by Hokusai, a photograph by André Kertész, a sculpture by Claes Oldenburg, a video installation by Bruce Nauman, a performance by Joseph Beuys, and many more—Lorna Owen has created an engaging presentation of an extraordinary range. The pieces, which represent every period of visual art, are accompanied by Owen’s intriguing text about the story behind each work. She has combined her passion for art and her empathy for the unsung archetype of the animal kingdom to explain not only how or why the artist came to use the mouse as a subject, but how the art, in the end, reveals more about us than it could ever reveal about this humble creature.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I won this book from the publisher.

I found this book enjoyable and engrossing. Each spread contains one artist and work, so the book can be broken into bite-sized chunks and consumed at leisure. The author covers art from ancient times to the present and includes paintings, sculpture, photography, and modern art from around the world.

Not only is this book fun, but it may also serve as an introduction to artists, styles, and movements with which one is unfamiliar.

Check my Profile for more information on the star rating.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect. Beautifully rendered art with helpful insets. Lively and informative text.