Dogs and Their Appearance in Art
Woman with Dog (1891), by Pierre Bonnard. Source: commons.wikimedia.org/
Just three days ago, August 26, it was International Dog Day. It was also right after our GoldenDoodle Corky passed away. So I’m dedicating this post to our beloved companion who graced our home for 13 years. Although I’ve never created any art portraying him or other pooches who’ve lived with me, many artists have. In fact, it turns out that when pets started showing up in 19th-century European paintings, especially of interiors, they were reflecting significant changes in society. [If you’re a cat lover, International Cat Day was August 8. I just found out, sorry I missed it.]
Interior with Painting and Dog (1930), by Pierre Bonnard. Source: pixels.com/
I became aware of this phenomenon through a webinar I watched recently. The focus was on the animals in the oeuvre of French painter, illustrator, and printmaker Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947). I learned that their appearance signals the development of bourgeois culture in urban areas. In Paris, grand new apartment buildings lined the wide boulevards, and new department stores (e.g., The Bon Marché) appealed to a growing consumer class. Its members kept animals as companions rather than working them. A new empathy for them arose. Those of us who have such creatures in our homes understand why. Indisputably, they fill a variety of emotional needs.
En bateau (1910-1913), by Pierre Bonnard. Bemberg Fondation Toulouse. Source: commons.wikimedia.org/
The Black Dog and Bouquet of Lilacs (date ?), by Pierre Bonnard. Source: commons.wikimedia.org/
Bonnard was not the only artist to depict dogs as part of societal change. Guiseppe Tominz (1790-1866), an Italian-Slovene painter from the Austrian Littoral, worked mostly in the cultural milieu of the upper bourgeoisie in the Austrian Illyrian Kingdom.
Pietro Stanislao Parisi with Family (1849), by Jožef Tominc (Giuseppe Tominz). Source: commons.wikimedia.org/
Over the centuries, artists have depicted their own dogs, friends’ dogs, neighborhood dogs, hunting dogs, shepherd dogs, and so on. They’ve been sculpted, drawn, etched, painted, and woven into tapestries. But the scene is not always a charming delight, and the artist is not always in good humor. Take The Dog (or The Drowning Dog) by Spanish painter and printmaker Francisco Goya (1746-1828). It is one of his Black Paintings, so called because of the palette and the artist’s mental and physical condition.
The Dog (El Perro) (1819-23), by Francisco Goya. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain. Source: commons.wikimedia.org/
In 1819, Goya bought a small house called Quinta del Sordo (Villa of the Deaf Man, for a former occupant) near Madrid. He was 73, functionally deaf himself, a survivor of two life-threatening illnesses, alienated from the Spanish royal court where he had painted for half of his life, embittered by civil strife, and living alone. At first, Goya decorated the walls with inspiring murals, but then overpainted all of them with intense, haunting images that seemed to echo his darkening mood. I know this desperate look on the dog’s face, for I’d once seen it on one of my own dogs, when I sensed he was telling me he would drown if I didn’t save him in a fast-moving water channel he’d fallen into. How tragic that Goya must have felt that way, with no one there to rescue him.
Detail of The Dog (El Perro) (1819-23), by Francisco Goya. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain.
Source: commons.wikimedia.org/
What follows are only a few paintings by several artists in diverse styles. You’ll be glad to know that none of them mirrors Goya’s despondency.
Sitting Dog on Pillow (1855), by Gustave Courbet.
Source: commons.wikimedia.org/
Self-Portrait with Dogs (ca 1925-26), by Edvard Munch. Pola Museum of Art, Hakone, Japan. Source: commons.wikimedia.org/
Still Life with Three Puppies (1888), by Paul Gauguin. Source: moma.org/
Little Girl in a Blue Armchair (1878), by Mary Cassatt. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Source: khanacademy.org/
Itzcuintli Dog With Me (1938), by Frida Kahlo.
Source: niceartgallery.com/
Among her pets (including monkeys), Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) kept hairless Mexican Itzcuintli dogs. They appear in quite a few of her paintings. Her favorite pooch was named Mr. Xoloti, who is featured in the self-portrait above. Very rare dogs, Itxcuintli were highly prized by the Aztecs.
Self Portrait with Itxcuintli Dog and Sun (date ?), by Frida Kahlo.
Source: frida-kahlo-foundation.org/
Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) had a lot of dogs in his long life, but one in particular stands out, for he was the only one the artist took into his arms. The dachshund Lump (German for “rascal”) came from American photographer David Douglas Duncan, who lived with Picasso for six years in Cannes, France. Although the artist preferred to work alone, Lump would often accompany him. Picasso included him in almost 45 different paintings throughout their many years together. The abstract sketch below is the first image he created of Lump, which he entitled Dog. Lump died ten days before Picasso.
Dog (1957?) by Pablo Picasso.
Source: pablopicasso.net/dog/
There are so many more paintings I could add, including contemporary ones as well as sculptures, not to mention other mediums, but I’ll end with one more by Bonnard. It reminds me of how often Corky looked at me, wondering, “Surely there’s something else you want to feed me.”
The Red-Checkered Tablecloth (1910), by Pierre Bonnard. Source: gallerix.org/
Questions & Comments:
What are your favorite paintings, prints, and/or sculptures of dogs?
Do you create artwork that features dogs? Who inspired it?
