Creatures, painted with affection
Animals
Horses waiting in harness, a deerhound looking straight past you, sheep coming home at dusk, ducks resting in the sun. Painters have always been fonder of animals than they let on, and Bonheur, Landseer, Oudry and Troyon spent whole careers proving it.
As a puzzle
A friendly build. Fur and fleece run in a direction, so a piece tells you which way it lies, and there is nearly always a clear edge where the animal meets the field. The plain studio ground behind a portrait is the patient stretch.
A good size here: 60–300 pieces.
18 pictures, pick one to build
The Horse Fair Rosa Bonheur, 1852–55 
Copy after Rubens's "Wolf and Fox Hunt" Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, ca. 1824–26 
Ducks Resting in Sunshine Jean-Baptiste Oudry, 1753 
Going to Market Constant Troyon, 1860 
A Hare and Birds Jan Fyt 
A Shepherdess and Her Flock Anton Mauve 
Dog Guarding Dead Game Jean-Baptiste Oudry, 1753 
Fox With Two Herons Frans Snyders, ca. 1630–40 
A Basket and Birds Jan Fyt 
Twilight Anton Mauve 
Sheep in a Landscape Eugène-Joseph Verboeckhoven, 1870 
Seated Arab Man with Horse Alfred Dedreux, possibly ca. 1850–58 
Dying Stag Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, ca. 1830 
A Hare, Partridges, and Fruit Jan Fyt 
The Return to the Fold Anton Mauve 
Cows in a Landscape Eugène-Joseph Verboeckhoven, 19th century 
Study of a lying cow Paulus Potter, ca. 1650 
Weaning the Calves Rosa Bonheur, 1879