You Fine Sculpture
Many outstanding and famous sculptors have created colossal animal sculptures, which are symbols of power, carriers of profound emotions, and landmarks of a city’s heart. Made from durable materials such as bronze and steel, they freeze a moment in time forever. They change the space around them, make us look up, and stay in our memory. This article is about ten artists who mastered this art, turning wild animals into unforgettable giants that stand in our public squares, parks, and cities.
This list is based on the artists’ fame, their influence on art, and how their large-scale work has captivated people around the world.
Top 1 Louise Bourgeois – The Giant Container of Emotion
Search Popularity: 110,000/mo
Active Period: Mid-20th to early 21st century
Masterpiece: Maman (1999)
Size & Material: Over 10 meters tall, made of bronze, stainless steel, and marble.
Why She’s Great: Bourgeois didn’t make a realistic spider. She created a towering symbol of a mother—both protective and unsettling. Her work shows how a personal feeling can become a public monument that amazes everyone. Building such a huge, delicate structure is an ultimate challenge for bronze casting.
Top 2 Richard Orlinski – The Pop Art Beast
Search Popularity: 27,100/mo
Active Period: 21st century (Contemporary)
Masterpiece: Wild Kong, Born Wild (crocodile series)
Size & Material: Often over 3 meters tall, using shiny colored aluminum or resin with sharp, “diamond-cut” edges.
Why He’s Great: Orlinski is one of the world’s best-selling contemporary artists. He transforms animals into pop culture icons with bright colors and geometric shapes. His sculptures feel like a exciting clash between modern life and wild nature, and are instantly recognizable.
Top 3 Dame Elisabeth Frink – The Rough, Primal Force
Search Popularity: 3,600/mo
Active Period: Mid-to-late 20th century
Masterpiece: Runner, Hawk series, large Horses
Size & Material: Large bronze sculptures (2-3 meters tall) with intentionally rough, textured surfaces.
Why She’s Great: Frink’s birds, horses, and dogs are full of tension and strength. They seem always alert, ready to move. The rough bronze catches the light, making them look ancient and timeless, like fossils from a distant past.
Top 4 Antoine-Louis Barye – The Founder of Animal Sculpture
Search Popularity: 2,900/mo
Active Period: 19th Century (Romantic period)
Masterpiece: Tiger Devouring a Gavial
Size & Material: Mainly bronze, creating both indoor pieces and large outdoor fountains.
Why He’s Great: Barye is the pioneer. He was the first to study live animals to capture their true power and motion, especially in dramatic life-and-death scenes. He raised animal sculpture from a craft to a serious art form, inspiring all who came after him.
Top 5 Gillie and Marc – The Playful Realists
Search Popularity: 2,900/mo
Active Period: Late 20th century – Present (Contemporary)
Masterpiece: The Love Sculptures (like Love the Last)
Size & Material: Life-size and larger bronze sculptures of animals, often in playful, human-like poses.
Why They’re Great: This artist duo is famous for their joyful and thought-provoking sculptures. They blend realistic animal forms with a touch of surreal storytelling, often focusing on love, family, and endangered species. Their work brings a smile and a message to public spaces worldwide.
Top 6 Michel Bassompierre – The Master of Gentle Giants
Search Popularity: 1,900/mo
Active Period: Late 20th century – Present (Contemporary)
Masterpiece: Series of Bears and Gorillas
Size & Material: Large sculptures (up to 4 meters) in bronze, marble, or resin.
Why He’s Great: Bassompierre sculpts bears, gorillas, and elephants with a unique focus on their gentle, rounded forms. He captures not just their strength, but also their calmness and vulnerability. His skillful use of light and shadow on the sculpture’s surface makes these giant creatures feel soft and majestic.
Top 7 Robert Glen – The Epic Storyteller of the Wild
Search Popularity: 2,400/mo
Active Period: Late 20th century – Present
Masterpiece: The Cape Town Horses (1997)
Size & Material: Life-size to monumental bronze sculpture groups. His famous horse herd is over 20 meters long.
Why He’s Great: Glen is a master of wildlife drama. After years of studying animals in Africa, he captures their most energetic and graceful movements in bronze. His large groups of animals, like the running horses in Cape Town, tell an epic story of freedom and wild spirit, perfect for big, open spaces.
Top 8 Nic Fiddian-Green – The Poet of Peace
Search Popularity: 720/mo
Active Period: Late 20th century – Present
Masterpiece: Still Water (series of horse heads)
Size & Material: Extra-large bronze horse heads, often 3 to 10 meters tall.
Why He’s Great: Inspired by ancient Greek art, Fiddian-Green focuses on one peaceful moment: a horse drinking. By making the bowed horse head monumentally large, he creates an incredibly quiet and spiritual feeling in the middle of busy cities like London or New York, offering a moment of calm.
Top 9 Kent Ullberg – The Scientific Realist
Search Popularity: 260/mo
Active Period: Late 20th century – Present
Masterpiece: Polar Dominion (polar bear), African Elephant
Size & Material: Life-size to monumental bronze sculptures.
Why He’s Great: Ullberg is a champion of realism. His sculptures show an incredible scientific attention to detail—every muscle, bone, and strand of fur is perfect. His animals look so alive, you feel they could breathe. His work is a majestic tribute to the beauty of the natural world.
Top 10 Bjørn Okholm Skaarup – The Scholar of Strength and Grace
Search Popularity: 110/mo
Active Period: Late 20th century – Present (Contemporary)
Masterpiece: Sculptures of Elephants and Bears
Size & Material: Large-scale wildlife sculptures in bronze and other materials.
Why He’s Great: Skaarup combines his deep knowledge of art history with a love for nature. His sculptures of elephants, bears, and other animals beautifully balance raw power with elegant form. He finds the perfect line and shape to show both the strength and the graceful movement of his subjects.
The Art and Craft of the Wild
From the dramatic fights in Barye’s bronzes to the quiet power of Bourgeois’s spider, these artists show us one thing: size matters. On a monumental scale, an animal sculpture becomes more than art—it becomes a landmark, a community symbol, and a source of wonder.
The dream of such a giant sculpture starts with the artist’s vision, but it is realized through masterful bronze casting. This ancient craft, with its unmatched strength and detail, is what turns clay and wax into everlasting bronze. The process—engineering strong supports, creating huge molds, and the careful pour of molten metal—is a challenge that demands the highest skill.
At Bronzes Gallery, this is what we do. We partner with artists to bring their biggest ideas to life. From the first sketch to the final patina, our team provides the expert technical support needed for every step of creating a large-scale masterpiece.
If you can dream it, we can cast it. Let’s create a lasting legacy together.
Panda, a 20-year veteran of bronze casting, is one of the co-founders and lead artisan of YouFine Art Bronze Foundry. Deeply rooted in the foundry, she has mastered every detail of the craft. Her expertise guarantees that each sculpture embodies the highest standards of quality and artistic integrity.