We’re sorry to report that in March 2023, Pigcasso passed away at 8 years old. You can read our tribute here.
A year ago, Pigcasso was a piglet born in a factory farm in South Africa. If she wasn’t saved by her human Joanne, she would be bacon by now. Instead, she’s grown into a true renaissance hog, painting colorful works of art inspired by her beautiful coastal home in Cape Town. She’s also a philanthropist who sells her creations to support the Farm Sanctuary South Africa and raise awareness for the fair treatment of farm animals, with pieces selling for as high as $2,000.
Pigs are intelligent animals and love to have fun and learn, so Joanne got her some toys to play with. At first, she showed potential to become a professional athlete, with a football being her favorite toy. Joanne then noticed she had a strong interest in a paint brush, which inspired her to get her an easel and paint. After a bit of training, Pigcasso now knows to dip the brush, choose colors and apply to her canvas.
She’s never pressured to paint and at 450 pounds, she’s hard to boss around. She simply is drawn to express herself through paint. Besides her painting passion, her hobbies include naps and snacking on grapes, strawberries, guava and popcorn She especially enjoys walks along the scenic coast of cape town that inspires her paintings. She plans to host an exhibit of her work in 2017 and if you’d like to follow her, check her out on Facebook.
If you’re big on celebrity pigs, check out our story on Esther the Wonder Pig who has over 1.3 million followers and Lulu the hero pig who saved her owner’s life.
And in case you missed the sad news, Pigcasso passed away at 8 years old (after raising $1 million for her shelter)