Dogs have featured in art throughout history, from the earliest cave paintings to the latest digital works. This week, the Wallace Collection in London will host the first major UK exhibition dedicated to works of art featuring our four-legged friends.
“There are no human guardians – it’s just dogs,” says Alexander Collins, assistant curator of Dog Portraits: From Gainsborough to Hockney. “We have been very keen to have a serious reassessment of dog portraiture. It’s a celebration of that special bond we have with dogs and explores what dog portraits can tell us, not just about our pets, but about ourselves, our values, our moral inclinations, our status. social.
Studies of a Dog’s Paw (verso) by Leonardo da Vinci © National Galleries of Scotland
The works come from British collections and among the highlights are a metalpoint drawing of a dog’s paw (circa 1490-1495) by Leonardo da Vinci, on loan from the National Galleries of Scotland, and the oil painting Edwin Lanseer oil Hector, Nero and Dash with the parrot Lory (1938), from the Royal Collection. The latter was painted for Queen Victoria, who “was so enamored with [the painting] that she wrote about it in her journals saying how beautiful it was,” Collins says.
The exhibition will include a range of media, from paintings and sculptures to drawings, jewelry and taxidermy. “We want to examine different facets, purposes and traditions of canine art through the centuries, and the evolution of our relationship with them,” Collins says.
The oldest work is a Roman marble sculpture of two greyhounds by an unknown artist, on loan from the British Museum. his pet dachshunds. “They’re so familiar to everyone,” Collins says. “You can imagine being home and seeing your dogs sleeping like Hockney captured it on canvas.”
by David Hockney Painting dog 41 (1995) © David Hockney. Photo: Richard Schmidt Collection, David Hockney Foundation
During research for the exhibit, information was uncovered about the dog that belonged to one of the founders of the Wallace Collection, Richard Wallace. “He had a dog called Snipe, who traveled everywhere with him and was his close companion,” Collins says. “He even had Snipe photographed by one of the greatest photographers of the 19th century, and that photo is in the exhibit. So there is a nice connection between Richard Wallace and the larger history of dogs.
The Wallace Collection also presents a simultaneous exhibition, The Queen and her Corgis, which opened earlier this month. The one-room photography exhibit celebrates the late Queen’s relationship with her beloved dogs. “She kept more than 30 [corgis] during his reign,” Collins says. “We even have a corgi family tree, so people can figure out how they’re all related.”
• Dog Portraits: From Gainsborough to HockneyWallace Collection, London, March 29-October 15
• The Queen and her CorgisThe Wallace Collection, London, until June 25
