It reflects a way of thinking at the time – known as the cult of sensibility. The renowned portraitist Thomas Gainsborough wrote letters to his wife, delivered and "signed" by his favourite dog after marital arguments, and even hung a portrait of his two favourite pups in pride of place above his fireplace (Tristram and Fox, 1775-85). The heyday for anthropomorphising mutts came in the 18th Century. It's thought that dogs were originally domesticated around 14,000 years ago, and the symbiotic relationship of hounds and people has even been captured in cave paintings. To see in dogs the mirroring of human emotion is an artistic trope that extends far back into history. The subject wasn't dogs but my love of the little creatures." "I felt such a loss of love I wanted to deal with it in some way… They're like little people to me. "I wanted desperately to paint something loving," Hockney has written. The series was inspired by the death of the artist's close friend Henry Geldzahler. It is one of 40 paintings of the artist's pet dachshunds Stanley and Boodgie. This is tenderly evoked with the single beady eye holding our gaze in David Hockney's Dog Painting 30. One of the most appealing aspects of dogs is their apparent empathy with human feelings. But there's also a hint at the deeper symbolic meaning of dogs that enters an altogether more esoteric and metaphysical realm. In different periods, we can see art focusing on certain attributes of our furry friends like empathy, faithfulness, super-attuned senses and intelligence. "The way that our relationship with dogs – that unexplainable, loving bond – transgresses into art history is fascinating, and a greater reflection of society," he tells BBC Culture.Īs societies have evolved through history, changing feelings towards canines are captured in art. The curator of the exhibition, Xavier Bray, agrees. Striking new images by Africa's creative wave Why donkeys are taking over our screens What explains this special relationship? The Wallace Collection in London's new exhibition Portraits of Dogs: from Gainsborough to Hockney suggests that an answer can be found in visual art. Missed the exhibition? Buy the catalogue here.As any mutt owner will attest, the human/hound bond is a profound one. More than any other nationality perhaps, the British have both commissioned and collected portraits of dogs.īringing over 50 works of art to Hertford House, Portraits of Dogs presented a broad range of portraiture showing dogs in all their different shapes and sizes, with each painter or sculptor challenging themselves how best to represent mankind’s most faithful and fearless friend. Through carefully selected paintings, sculptures, drawings, works of art and even taxidermy, the exhibition highlighted the unique bond between humans and their canine companions.ĭog portraiture developed as an artistic genre contemporaneously with its human counterpart – dogs are represented in the earliest cave paintings alongside humans – and it flourished, particularly in Britain, from the 17th century onwards. The exhibition explored our devotion to four-legged friends across the centuries. Our major exhibition, Portraits of Dogs: From Gainsborough to Hockney, ran from 29 March – 15 October 2023.
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