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Meet Pigcasso, the piggy artist! 🐷
She’s a successful painter who has created over 400 works of original art, being sold all over the world 🌎
She even holds the record for the most expensive painting by an animal!
Hard to believe?
There is actually a very interesting story behind Pigcasso’s unexpected art career.
Pigcasso was born in 2016 in a pig farm in South Africa. That same year, she was rescued by Joanne Lefson and taken to a non-profit organisation!❤️
There, Joanne noticed how the pig would destroy and eat everything in her stall… except for some paint brushes! 🖌️
That’s when she got the idea to teach Pigcasso how to paint.
Using rewards and various other training methods, Lefson decided to teach the pig to use brushes to apply paint to a canvas, and that’s how their incredible adventure started.
By 2018, Pigcasso was already a star – she even held her own exhibition 🤩
It was held at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town, and it is believed to be the first ever collaboration between a person and an animal for an art exhibition!
Here’s some more information on the famous artwork which earned Pigcasso a Guinness World Records title:
🎨 The record-breaking painting’s title is “Wild and Free”
🎨 It measures 1.6 x 2.6 metres (5.2 x 8.5 ft)
🎨 It uses colours inspired by the ocean views from the Western Cape
🎨 It was sold on 13 December 2021 at the impressive price of R430,000.00 ZAR (£20,276 / $26,898 / €23,764), making in the most expensive painting ever created by an animal!
Before Pigcasso, a chimp called Congo made a painting that was sold for £14,400 in 2005 🐒
Did you know that animals can be that creative?!
All we’re saying is, if you have a pet at home, they might have a hidden talent 😂
So, what is Pigcasso up to now?
Her talent is recognised worldwide, and she has sold her paintings in the USA, UK, Germany, Brazil, Singapore and more!🗺️
Her art has even been shown at huge events by well-known brands!
Her owner, Joanne hopes that “Pigcasso's work will educate the public about animal safety and wellbeing.”
Fun Facts:
• Pigcasso paints with non-toxic (o)ink - see what we did there? 👀
• She signs all of her paintings by dipping her nose into beetroot ink and touching it onto the canvas 🐽