FILE PHOTO: Pigcasso, a rescued pig, paints on a canvas at the Farm Sanctuary in Franschhoek, outside Cape Town, South Africa February 21, 2019. REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham/File Photo

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Pigcasso, The Painting Pig, Hogs Limelight at South Africa Farm

FRANSCHHOEK, South Africa – Step aside Francis Bacon… there’s a pig in South Africa whose art work is selling for a high price, and has even been featured on the face of a watch! UPDATE 17 DEC: Pigcasso’s painting sells for record-breaking price.  Brandishing a paintbrush in her snout, Pigcasso enthusiastically tosses her head to […]

By Reuters
18-12-21 00:16
in Fab South African Stuff
FILE PHOTO: Pigcasso, a rescued pig, paints on a canvas at the Farm Sanctuary in Franschhoek, outside Cape Town, South Africa February 21, 2019. REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham/File Photo

FRANSCHHOEK, South Africa – Step aside Francis Bacon… there’s a pig in South Africa whose art work is selling for a high price, and has even been featured on the face of a watch! UPDATE 17 DEC: Pigcasso’s painting sells for record-breaking price. 

FILE PHOTO: Pigcasso, a rescued pig, paints on a canvas at the Farm Sanctuary in Franschhoek, outside Cape Town, South Africa February 21, 2019. REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham/File Photo

Brandishing a paintbrush in her snout, Pigcasso enthusiastically tosses her head to create bright, bold strokes across a canvas propped up in her sty.

The sow was rescued from an abattoir as a piglet and brought to an animal sanctuary in Franschhoek, in South Africa’s Western Cape region in 2016, where her new owners noticed her love of colour and paint brushes.

“Pigs are very smart animals and so when I brought Pigcasso here to the barn, I thought how do I keep her entertained?” said Joanne Lefson, who runs Farm Sanctuary SA.

FILE PHOTO: Pigcasso, cools down in a mud bath after painting at the Farm Sanctuary in Franschhoek, outside Cape Town, South Africa February 21, 2019. 2019. REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham/File Photo

“We threw in some soccer balls, rugby balls and of course there were some paintbrushes lying around because the barn was newly build … She basically ate or destroyed everything except these paintbrushes … she loved them so much,” Lefson added.

Soon the pig was dipping the brushes into pots of paint and making her mark. Her paintings can sell for almost $4,000, with the proceeds going to animal welfare. She has even had one of her artworks turned into a watch face for Swiss watchmaker Swatch.

Swatch announced a collaboration with the pig last month.

The limited edition “Flying Pig by Ms. Pigcasso” features green, blue and pink brush strokes and sells for $120.

FILE PHOTO: Pigcasso, a rescued pig, looks at a canvas after painting at the Farm Sanctuary in Franschhoek, outside Cape Town, South Africa February 21, 2019. 2019. REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Pigcasso, a rescued pig, paints on a canvas at the Farm Sanctuary in Franschhoek, outside Cape Town, South Africa February 21, 2019. REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Pigcasso, a rescued pig, paints on a canvas at the Farm Sanctuary in Franschhoek, outside Cape Town, South Africa February 21, 2019. REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Pigcasso, a rescued pig, paints on a canvas at the Farm Sanctuary in Franschhoek, outside Cape Town, South Africa February 21, 2019. REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham

“Pigcasso is definitely an abstract expressionist, you can’t exactly define what she’s painting but I can tell you that her style slightly changes depending on her mood like any great artist,” said Lefson.

(Reporting by Reuters Television; Writing by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Alison Williams)

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