The master did not just paint pictures in the animalistic genre, he painted allegorical and satirical canvases using animals, dressing them in human clothes and placing them in certain everyday scenes.

William Holbrook Beard (1825-1900) is an American animal painter who won recognition not only because he used caustic satire and allegories in his paintings, which became especially popular in European and American art in the 19th century, but to a greater extent because he used images of animals in his works that personified the essence of man. Thus, ridiculing human weaknesses, the master received both merciless criticism from some and immense respect and love from others.

Many are sure that satire, irony, sarcasm and humor in the visual arts are a relatively new phenomenon. But this is absolutely not true. All these aspects have existed in art for as long as man himself. A sense of humor, mockery, both good and evil, sometimes murderous, are inherent in all eras of human development and the cultures of all countries. The question immediately arises: when did the first satirical drawing appear? Of course – with the first rock paintings of the Stone Age. Even primitive people enjoyed depicting their enemies or rivals in a funny way. Years and centuries passed. Satirical images migrated to ancient Egyptian papyri, to vases of ancient Greece, to frescoes of ancient Rome. They have reached our time in the form of funny and daring graphic epigrams on mythological gods.