Alexandra Klimas, “Melissa the Cow,” oil on canvas, 23 1/2 x 31 1/2 inches

Alexandra Klimas has had a lifelong fascination with cows, and follows their decline in the Netherlands with dismay — like pugs, they are now mainly kept inside, in mega farms. Her reflection of their disappearance from the fields leads her to create idealized pastoral landscapes with an ethereal quality that draws the viewer in. Where can you see those paintings now?

On view now through November 27, John Davies Gallery in England is presenting the magnetic works of Dutch painter Alexandra Klimas. Klimas paints oil portraits of farm animals created on location, with the named animals as sitters. Although animals have been painted for millennia, Klimas’ paintings are unique as the cows, sheep, farm cats, and poultry are the lead subjects in the works and given the artistic attention usually applied only to human subjects.

Alexandra Klimas, “Eliza the Sheep,” oil on canvas, 23 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches
Alexandra Klimas, “Adelia the Cow,” oil on canvas, 31 1/2 x 23 1/2 inches
Alexandra Klimas, “Lobke the Cow,” oil on canvas, 23 3/4 x 31 1/2 inches
Alexandra Klimas, “Cows in a landscape,” oil on canvas, 15 3/4 x 31 1/2 inches
Alexandra Klimas, “Mia the Cow,” oil on canvas, 31 1/2 x 39 1/4 inches
Alexandra Klimas, “Sheep in a lovely pasture,” oil on canvas, 23 1/2 x 39 1/2 inches

To learn more, visit John Davies Gallery.

This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.


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Andrew Webster is the former Editor of Fine Art Today and worked as an editorial and creative marketing assistant for Streamline Publishing. Andrew graduated from The University of North Carolina at Asheville with a B.A. in Art History and Ceramics. He then moved on to the University of Oregon, where he completed an M.A. in Art History. Studying under scholar Kathleen Nicholson, he completed a thesis project that investigated the peculiar practice of embedded self-portraiture within Christian imagery during the 15th and early 16th centuries in Italy.

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