CowParade

The story behind CowParade

The idea for CowParade was born in the late 1990s in Zürich, Switzerland. The aim is to make art accessible in the urban environment for everyone, without barriers: life-size cow statues, painted by local artists, are displayed throughout a city’s streets. By 2012, 75 CowParade events had been held worldwide, from Zürich and New York to Amsterdam. An estimated 300 million people experienced at least one event. A CowParade event runs for 2 to 3 months and is always organised together with local partners. Since 2000, every event has ended with an auction of the life-size art cows; the proceeds (over US$40 million to date) go to local charities.

The scale models: from event to collectible

The full CowParade catalogue contains around 500 different cow figurines. The differences lie in design, size, material and sometimes finish. The scale models are exact replicas of cows that once stood at a CowParade event somewhere in the world. In total, more than 5,000 artists have painted a cow for an event, so there is always fresh inspiration for new scale models. As a result, a new selection of around 20 new designs is released roughly every six months, drawn from every continent and from events across the years. Two materials are used for the collection: the vast majority are made of high-quality resin (poly resin), while part of the collection — particularly some of the “medium” cows — is made as a ceramic model.

Collecting CowParade

Because the catalogue is so extensive and constantly refreshed with new designs, CowParade has become a genuine collectible for many enthusiasts: every model is a unique, numbered part of a worldwide art movement. Can’t get enough of everything cow-related? Discover other art styles at Kunst en Kadootjes too, such as the elephant statues from Elephant Parade or the colourful Molly & Dolly statues.

Frequently asked questions