Pachyderms from Milwaukee to Thailand are painting. But is it for pure pleasure or just for the money? And what does it have to do with health and well being in humans?

At least four decades ago, a gallery exhibit of chimpanzees’ paintings started a debate about whether or not primates have an aesthetic sense and even an appreciation for beauty. Is it really art? Are the brushstrokes and images pleasing to us but not the animals themselves? Zoologist Desmond Morris [see original work in The Biology of Art] wrote that at least one chimpanzee would scream if he was interrupted before he finished making his paintings. Morris thought that chimps indeed get pleasure from looking at their art products. And if art materials are available to young chimps, they will begin to make scribbles with them, just like young human children do at an early age [see Congo’s painting]. The chimps do so without rewards of food or other payoffs.

Elephants can paint, too, and are being given a few art lessons in the interim. Some in the art world have taken notice and one group actually uses proceeds to save and rehabilitate other elephants that have been abused or neglected. But the verdict is not in as to whether their brushstrokes to canvas are actually “art” or just daubs of paint to canvas made without motivation or artistic sensibilities. And can we witness a reflection of what is sometimes called the “artistic personality” in animals? Elephant artists can be as temperamental as human artists, wanting to make art on some days, but not on others.

What does this have to do with the healing arts? Since most art made by humans is created for pleasure rather than monetary gain or fame, what four-leggeds have to teach two-leggeds may be somewhat important to the growing field of art therapy and rehabilitation and trauma intervention. As with humans, painting and drawing, given the right circumstances, can be pleasurable and naturally soothing for some animals. When animals in captivity are taught to paint, there is a reduction in stressful behavior such as self-mutilation and repetitive swaying. Some zoos already have encouraged elephants to paint as a means toward helping the confined find a sense of calm.