From the 1940s through the 1960s, the Alfred Mainzer Company of Long Island City, NY published a series of linen and photochrome humorous cat postcards illustrated by Eugen Hartung (or Hurtong) (1897–1973), sometimes referred to as “Mainzer Cats”. These postcards normally illustrate settings that are filled with action, often with a minor disaster just about to occur. While the dressed cats were by far the most popular and most plentiful cards, Hartung also painted other dressed animals – primarily mice, dogs, and hedgehogs.

Hirotoshi Itoh graduated from Tokyo National Fine Arts University in 1982 and later went into his family business as a stonemason. He spent several years working with metal before turning his attention to stones. He utilizes stones found in a river bank near his home, and he creates sculptures that juxtapose the original shape and hardness of the material with surprising humor and texture. You can find more of his work on his Deviant Art page.

Sarah Rosado was born in New York. Her passion for Art began to develop at an early age. In school she excelled in Art class and was awarded many certificates for her detailed drawings. It wasn't until a couple of years ago when she decided to dedicate herself to her Art, completely. She mastered the paint program in microsoft and later moved on to more sophisticated paint software. Her work is a combination of Cartoon with Humor. Today, she has over 70 Art pieces that are part of her collection and it continues to grow

Tempering the violence of modern weaponry with charmingly rendered creatures, artist Xiau-Fong Wee captures a dark humor in her quirky drawings. While some of the weapons appear terrifyingly realistic, others such as in the ray gun wielding bunny portrait, speaks more to the fantastical worlds of science fiction. The anthropomorphic dispositions of the spectacle-wearing creatures also range in merry reverie to stern seriousness, adding to the delightful nature of these well-executed portraits. View more of the drawings below.

Clay Lipsky has created a great series called Atomic Overlook. The project takes terribly boring scenic shots and combines them with some exciting nuclear testing. “Tourists will line up for anything and I always found humor in vacation destinations that are nothing but a bunch of people looking into a great abyss”, he says. “I understand the allure of a beautiful landscape, but as the world’s population grows so do the lines to view the “nothingness”. Atomic Overlook flips the script on that and gives new purpose to those suntanned masses”. (Photo by Clay Lipsky)

A visitor views the work of artists Gonzalo Duran and Cheri Pann at their Mosaic Tile House in Venice, California U.S., August 26, 2016. With an array of thrift store china, humorous souvenirs and handmade tile adorning its walls and floors, the Mosaic Tile House in Venice stands as a monument to two decades of artistic collaboration between Cheri Pann and husband Gonzalo Duran. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

“Fernando Botero Angulo (born April 19, 1932) is a Colombian figurative artist. His works feature a figurative style, called by some “Boterismo”, which gives them an unmistakable identity. Botero depicts women, men, daily life, historical events and characters, milestones of art, still-life, animals and the natural world in general, with exaggerated and disproportionate volumetry, accompanied by fine details of scathing criticism, irony, humor, and ingenuity”. – Wikipedia

Photo: The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire view “Dancers” by artist Fernando Botero in the gardens of their home Chatsworth House on September 10, 2009, Chatsworth, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

German artist Robert Rickhoff re-interprets the idea of public space with humor through a series of digitally manipulated photographs in a project entitled “out of place”. Rickhoff augments scenes within a seemingly commonplace environment to depict impractical yet lighthearted situations – including a playground slippery dip facing towards a busy road to a speed bump placed in an unassuming residential street that is actually a daredevil ramp. the visualizations are subtle yet provocative, forcing the audience to look twice to notice the unusual setting infused with tongue-in-cheek wit.