Pigcasso: The Painting Pig That Saved a Sanctuary

When Joanne Lefson took on a piglet at her animal shelter, the young sow proceeded to eat everything in her stable but a paint brush. In a flash of inspiration, Joanne attempted to introduce the pig to the art of painting - and thus Pigcasso was born.

Starting out with a humble canvas on the sanctuary wall, Pigcasso’s paintings are now owned by the likes of George Clooney, she has a Swatch watch design partnership, a wine label, and has eclipsed the previous world record holder for animal art. She’s been commissioned by Nissan and has had exhibitions in Cape Town, Munich and Amsterdam. More than that, Pigcasso’s art funds the food and veterinary services for all the animals at the sanctuary.

Pigcasso is the story of this unique pig and of the circumstances that brought her and Joanne together to take the art world by storm and form a unique and unbreakable bond.

Joanne Lefson is an animal-loving entrepreneur and the founder of the dog adoption agency Oscar’s Arc, which has saved the lives of thousands of shelter dogs since its inception in 2017. She is the founder of Farm Sanctuary SA, a sanctuary for rescued farmed animals - with a painting pig hogging the limelight. Pigcasso’s abstract expressionist masterpieces have sold all over the world and have raised over ＄1 million for the animal sanctuary.
Joanne’s unique collaborations have been featured on ABC, NBC, CBS News, SABC, SKY News, ZDF, CNN and National Geographic as well as in The Times, The Sunday Times, USA Today and Der Spiegel. Her goal is to find a unique voice for vulnerable animals within a lost, loud worlddefined by human disconnect.

Lefson’s unique collaborations have been featured on ABC, NBC, CBS News, SABC, SKY News, ZDF, CNN and National Geographic as well as The London Times, Sunday Times, USA Today and Spiegel. Lefson’s goal is to find a unique voice for vulnerable animals within a lost, loud world defined by human disconnect.