Above: Dieter Roth's Shit Hare (1975)
Happy Easter, Happy Bunny Day, Happy Christ Resurrection and all that. In honor of the holiday, I'm going to share with you a bunch o' bunnies. Bunnies in art, in literature, in movies, as brands and some of the biggest bunnies in the world. I had to really cull down this post or by the time you finished reading it, it'd be Christmas.
For the purpose of convenience, in this post I am referring to all rabbits and hares as Bunnies. I know that there are several differences, variations in species etc., but for ease and entertainment, today they are all Bunnies.
First off, there are so many bunny-related and bunny-inspired things out there that I must leave a large majority out of this post. But to see the hundreds of cute and not so cute bunny items and art made by talented people be sure to check etsy.com and flickr, deviant art, behance, coroflot, and other online art databases and user uploaded art sites.
Bunnies, or rabbits and hares, have been prevalent in art for centuries. Early biblical engravings and religious art often had the animal in them. Dutch and Flemish Masters frequently included them as soon to be meals in their kitchen and repast scenes.
above: Jean Baptiste-Oudry's Rabbit and Pheasant (1751)
Romantic French painters like Boucher and Fragonard often had the furry little animal in their angelic and cherubic landscapes. Being chased (or eaten) is how they were depicted in many an English hunting scene. Countless Victorian Easter cards and vintage German engraved Easter cards can still be found at many flea markets and antique stores (like the ones shown below).
Today they can be seen everywhere from handmade cutesy crafts, as advertising mascots, fun vinyl toys and in many a darker representation as well, such as Joseph Beuys' film still below.
above: Photo of Joseph Beuys’ performance How to Explain Paintings to a Dead Hare, Nov. 26, 1965
To start with, here's a little serious Bunny art for you. When I say serious, the following pieces go for thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars- if you can find an available original. Most of the names of the artists are probably fairly well known to many of you.
Bunnies By World Renowned Artists:
Albrecht Durer, german engraver and painter 1471—1528:
John James Audubon:
Henri Rousseau:
Barry Flanagan:
Andy Warhol:
Wayne Thiebaud:
Claus Oldenberg:
Jeff Koons:
Masao Kinoshita:
Bunnies by contemporary artists, illustrators and designers from all over the world:
Mark Ryden:
Luke Chueh:
Kathie Olivas:
Frank Kozik:
Kozyndan:
Darla Jackson:
Morwenna Catt:
Momoyo Torimitsu:
Kim Simonsson:
Haidee Henry:
Bunnies in Classic Literature:
Shown above:
Br'er Rabbit
Mr. Flopears
The Velveteen Rabbit
The White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland
Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit (click the link for a online flip book version)
Uncle Wiggly
Rabbit from A.A. Milne's Pooh books
and, of course, Pat The Bunny
Bunnies in movies:
Shown above:
Brer Rabbit From Disney's Song of The South
Thumper from Disney's Bambi
Roger Rabbit
Harvey (The Jimmy Stewart classic)
Donnie Darko
Bunnies as brands:
Shown above:
General Mills Trix Bunny
The Playboy Bunny
The Nestle's Quick Bunny, aka the Nesquik Bunny, aka Quicky
Blue Bunny Brand
The Volkswagon Rabbit logo
Blink 182's Rabbit
Miffy, the dutch bunny (books and branded items)
Warner Brothers' Bugs Bunny
Jim Benton's Happy Bunny
The Energizer Bunny
Sanrio's Melody
And the world's most fashionable rabbit, Fifi Lapin
And now for some BIG Ol' BUNNIES (or Rabbit Record Holders):
And these have all been snopes, hoax-slayer and urban legends verified. They are not photo-shopped or retouched.
Amy, the present record holder as of 2008:
Above: An average sized rabbit atop Amy, who weighs approx 49 lbs.
read the article here.
Above: Karl Smolinksy with Robert
Read the article here.
The 2006 record holder, Herr Rabbit, 22 pounds:
Also worth checking out:
Bunnylicious, a great blog of all things bunny.
Rabbits In Design
Rabbit Remix
Hopper Home Bunny Blog
Contemporary Rabbit Art
And special thanks to brandsoftheworld, artnet, artfacts, artcyclopedia, allposters, amazon and the individual artists for the use of their images.
Well, that should be enough bunny lore to keep you satisfied until next Easter!