Free Benjamin Rabier Animal Illustrations To Print

I normally share scientific natural history animal illustrations on the site. When I stumbled across these charming comic-like animal illustrations of Benjamin Rabier, I knew I had to share them too.

These animal illustrations were originally created by Benjamin Rabier in 1908 for the children’s book “Les Petites Misères de la vie des Animaux”. The title of this French book translates as “The Little Miseries of Animal Life“.

Benjamin Rabier was born in 1864, he was a French comic book artist and illustrator. Rabier’s work inspired other artists such as Herge, the creator of Tintin. His work has a similar style to that of the British illustrator Cecil Aldin who was also around at the same time.

Rabier’s animal illustrations were groundbreaking, he was one of the first illustrators to specialize in illustrating children’s books. During his lifetime Benjamin Rebier illustrated over 250 children’s books.

Front cover of Animal Illustrations book

Benjamin Rabier and the Laughing Cow

One of Benjamin Rabiers most famous animal illustrations was not for one of his children’s books, but the laughing cow. The laughing cow is a famous logo for the cheese of the same name.

In 1924, the owner of the Laughing Cow brand, Léon Bel changed the brand logo. He used a new drawing from Benjamin Rabier, the famous red cow.

This was based on an illustration Rabier had created during the first world war. He had painted a jovial cow on the side of a meat truck for a friend.

This drawing got the nickname Wachkrie; a joke on the German Valkyries trucks and also a play on ‘La Vache Qui rit’ (The Laughing Cow). It caught the eye of the cheese manufacturer Léon Bel and he asked Rabier to recreate the image for his brand.

Benjamin Rabier developed his original drawing of the cow, replacing its brown color with a red coat and a white muzzle. Apparently, Léon Bel’s wife had the idea of making the cow more feminine by adding the now-iconic earrings made from the cheese box itself.

Rabier’s animal illustrations became very popular, as he had a unique talent for taking an animal and humanizing it.

He gave his creations human expressions and emotions, and he was one of the first illustrators to have animals feature as leading characters within his work.

Long before Disney, Rabier’s charming animal illustrations appeared on merchandise such as pencil-cases, posters and postcards as well as on furniture, as dishware and as toys.

The Animal Illustrations

To download the Benjamin Rabier illustration you want click on the title above that image. A higher resolution image will apear as new window in your browser. If you right click on that image with your mouse you will have the option to save it to your device.

All these wonderful illustrations are in the Public Domain so you are free to print and use them.