Absent Referents: Bristly Brushes

This chapter heightens the construct of nothing/something into a binary of visible/invisible by examining the swine and the squirrel, in absentia—in the crafting of brushes in the works of Frans Snyders and Hans Holbein. As invisible incidentals these animals’ lives became a “necessary loss” in the realm of art making. Literally present as brushes and pencils, the coats of their bodies were corporeal sacrifices to the art of painting. Inter-speciest considerations are engaged with in the appropriation and construction of artist’s brushes from hairs, fur, and tails which evoke thoughtful responses toward the same animals being portrayed in art. Pigs as opposed to boars, and squirrels to ermine generate the oppositional language of domestic/wild, alive/dead, and value/insignificance. A brief examination of various bird quills will round out this section.